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One of two French Muslim teenagers found guilty of raping a 12-year-old Jewish girl in 2024 has had his sentence commuted on account of the “need to prepare for future reintegration.”
The original sentences were handed down on June 15, 2025. The two boys were given seven- and nine-year prison sentences respectively, for their participation in the gang rape of a minor under the age of 15 on the basis of religion. The two were 13 at the time of the incident; a third boy involved in the incident was below the age of criminal responsibility (12) and therefore could not receive a prison sentence. He was instead sentenced to five years in an educational facility.
However, on November 18, the Versailles Court of Appeal retried the boy with the greater sentence behind closed doors, ultimately reducing his sentence to seven years from nine.
His lawyer, Melody Blanc, said: “The court took into account the entire case as provided for by law: the facts, their seriousness but also the personality of the minor and the need to prepare for future reintegration.”
The lawyers for the victim, Muriel Ouaknine-Melki and Oudy Bloch, told AFP that “the main thing is that she has managed to bring the perpetrators of her attack to justice and that two of them are imprisoned,” and praised “the courage of [their] client.”
French Jewish girl raped in Courbevoie
The incident in question took place in Courbevoie on June 15, 2024.
On the day of the attack, the girl was on her way home when she was ambushed. She was forced to perform penetrative and oral sex on two of the boys under threat of death. Her ex-boyfriend also threatened to burn her cheek while holding a lighter near her face and tried to make her sit on her handbag, which he had set on fire.
The victim’s mother told Le Parisien at the time that one of her daughter’s attackers told her, “I know you’re not Muslim… So, what religion are you?” They then called the girl a “dirty Jew,” she told authorities at the time.
Following the gang rape, which was filmed, the three asked the girl to convert to Islam, her parents told the French paper.
“Before letting her leave, they made her swear on Allah not to say anything and that she should not tell anyone, neither her parents nor the police,” her mother added.
The three-day trial was held in Nanterre juvenile court, and the victim was present throughout.
The presiding judge explained that the severity of the sentence came “in view of their concerning personality traits and the immense social disturbance to society and [to the victim] and because of what she was: a young girl of the Jewish faith.
“There is no doubt that [the victim] would not have been assaulted or raped if she had not been Jewish,” the presiding judge added.
Following the sentencing, the girl told CNews: “It’s important for me to speak out because the very fact I spoke out meant he was quickly arrested and imprisoned,” she said. “By doing this, I protect myself and I protect others; so they cannot do this to others.”