A Romanian citizen was sentenced to six years in prison by a court in the British city of Essex for the rape of a girl of twelve, with whom he lived as his wife. About it reports The Independent.
A man was caught in April when police stopped his car. Behind the wheel he was sitting in the car were his pregnant wife and two children. Investigators searched their home and found a small room with a double bed.
It turned out that 25-year-old offender and a girl, both of Roma origin, have been “married” in Romania, although illegal. The defendant’s lawyer insisted that the Roma in Romania marginalized, are exposed to prosecutions of the authorities, and her client had only acted in accordance with the traditions of his people. “There was no corruption, no exploitation, coercion or violence,” claimed Laura Kenyon.
“The problem is that the minimum age for marriage in Romania is the same as in the UK: 16. A sexual relationship with a child is illegal, and we are talking about 12-year-old girl, and still, there are some customs in other countries. Informed consent for sexual contact was not. Children need to be protected from others and from themselves,” retorted judge Lynch, judge.
The girl, meanwhile, had returned to Romania. It is expected that she would bear a child within a few weeks. The condemned man hopes to return to her after his release from prison and continue a life together.