As of: March 10, 2024, 6:30 p.m
By: Anna Lisa Speer
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Nursing assistant convicted: 38-year-old assaults 16-year-old and has to go to prison for three years.
© PantherMedia/stadtratte
The trial before the Weilheim district court against a 38-year-old Nigerian nurse lasted a full seven hours.
Then the verdict came down: three years in prison without parole.
Weilheim – After a seven-hour hearing, the Weilheim district court recently sentenced a 38-year-old Nigerian nursing assistant to a three-year prison sentence.
The man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old federal volunteer service worker in a senior center.
In addition to the prison sentence, the convicted person also has to bear the costs of the court proceedings.
The defendant, who had worked at the senior center for two years, was on trial on charges of sexual assault.
The incident, which occurred in March 2022, affected a 16-year-old teenager who was working at the senior center as part of her federal voluntary service.
The trial revealed a scenario in which the young victim and the defendant had different perspectives on the events that led to a serious legal dispute.
Sexual assault: Weilheim senior center: Nursing assistant sexually assaults minors
The defense relied heavily on the claim that there was mutual consent between the defendant and the victim based on what he interpreted as mutual attraction.
The defendant described watching her make the bed and then helping her, which led to a hug and further sexual acts.
The Nigerian man said he thought she was interested in him because she smiled at him and maintained eye contact.
He argued that his actions were based on these perceptions and denied that he had forced the then 16-year-old to do anything.
In contrast, the victim described a significantly different picture of the events.
She explained that the advances were unexpected and unwanted.
She didn't understand exactly why he came into the room.
She returned the hug, but understood it more as a “fatherly hug”.
Until now she had had “a collegial relationship” with the defendant.
Her statement described an increasingly unpleasant situation that she then perceived as sexual assault.
The situation became unbearable for her when the defendant pushed his finger into her underwear.
She emphasized that at no point did she give her consent and that her reactions - including pushing away from his hand - were clear signs of her rejection.
Witness statements in the trial also varied widely, ranging from a colleague who positively described the defendant's character to emotional reports about his condition after the incident.
Particularly noteworthy are the statements from the management of the senior center and the educator from the children's home where the then 16-year-old lived, both of whom reported the profound impact the incident had on the victim.
The facility manager recalled her traumatized state when she reported what had happened, and the educator described the victim's difficulty in articulating and processing her experiences.
Sexual assault: Weilheim senior center: Nursing assistant sexually assaults minors
The public prosecutor's office and the co-plaintiff's representative convincingly argued for the credibility of the then 16-year-old's testimony and underlined the improbability that a young girl with no sexual experience would invent such a detailed and specific story.
The defense, on the other hand, attempted to cast doubt on the consistency and accuracy of the victim's narrative by pointing out supposed inconsistencies.
After carefully considering the evidence and statements, the court ultimately sentenced the defendant to three years in prison without parole.
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