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Soldier sentenced to 6 months in jail for raping colleague

A military court hands down a lenient sentence for a soldier who attacked his female colleague because the pair had previously engaged in consensual oral sex.

The Northern Command's military court in Haifa on Tuesday handed down a six-month prison sentence to a soldier charged with raping a female colleague.

 

 

The soldier admitted the offense and the judges ruled that the act was committed under exceptional circumstances, therefore meriting a light punishment.

 

Illustration. (Photo: Ryan)
Illustration. (Photo: Ryan)

 

The judges expected that the decision would provoke criticism, and wrote: "The punishment may at first glance not seem fitting to the main accusation, which is rape, however it is absolutely the product of a thorough examination of the circumstances."

 

The military's punishment for rape runs from a minimum of four years' imprisonment to a maximum of 16 years in jail; however, the judges lessened the sentence due to "special circumstances noted (during the trial)."

 

The incident took place in July last year, when the accused, a soldier in a combat unit, was posted close to the northern border. The indictment stated that he had met the female soldier in a dark area on the base and inserted his finger into her. The judges noted that aside from what was described in the indictment, the two had met previously and engaged in consensual oral sex.

 

The lawyers of the accused signed a plea bargain with the military prosecutor and the defendant admitted to rape and the obstruction of justice, after he tried to dissuade the female soldier from submitting a complaint against him.

 

The prosecutor requested 17 months in jail, while the defendant's lawyers asked for a six-month sentence, which the accused had already served.

 

The judges also explained the lenient sentence by noting that the accused did not have any other record of aggressive acts.

 

One of the judges, who was of a minority opinion, said that the soldier should be sentenced to 10 months' jail time.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.19.16, 22:49
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