The Prosecutor's Office will appeal to the Supreme Court against the sentence of the 10-year-old convicted of rape in Ramat HaNegev - Walla! News

On video: Documentation of the arrest of the suspects in the rape of the 10-year-old girl from the south (Walla! NEWS system)

The criminal department of the State Attorney's Office announced today (Monday) that it will appeal to the Supreme Court the sentence of the rape of the 10-year-old girl in the Negev, who was sentenced to only five years in prison.

The young man, who was a 17.5-year-old minor at the time, was convicted of attempted sodomy and an indecent act, as well as the crime of breaking into a residence.

The state believes that in view of the extreme seriousness of the offenses, the district court was wrong, when in practice it gave too much weight to the rehabilitation procedures that this defendant went through, the announcement said.

To Walla's inquiry regarding why the prosecutor's office is appealing the sentence, since one of the reasons for the light sentence was the reluctance to testify about the girl - the victim of the crime, the prosecutor's office replied that: "In any case, in the arguments for the sentence, the prosecutor's office asked for 10 years in prison," so the appeal is mainly about the sentence.

Demonstration following the incident in the Negev, February 19, 2021 (Photo: Shay Machlouf)

Following the decision, the father of the injured girl said: "We want the appeal and it happened as a result of public pressure. On the other hand, there is a feeling of missing that public pressure is needed for something obvious. It's better sooner than later. For them to see and see. It's better than it was, that's for sure."

Yor Naamat, Hagit Par Bracha, congratulated the prosecutor's office's decision and said that it was "an opportunity to correct the scandalous sentence of the district court in Be'er Sheva. The panel of judges chose to apply the measure of mercy to the criminal assailant instead of to the innocent girl whose life he destroyed. Well done the prosecutor's office that decided to appeal - This is an important message both at the level of the specific case and at the public level."

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