On July 16, 2024, the Criminal Court of North Lebanon convicted a 51-year-old man of raping his own three children. The court ordered the three children to be taken from the father’s custody and be placed in a social care facility for psychological and medical rehabilitation. The court sentenced the man to 68 years in prison.
The accused had confessed to the criminal act of raping his 12-year-old daughter and his two other children aged 11 and 9. He said he did this as revenge against his wife because she deserted him and left the children in his custody.
Under article 233 of Law No. 328 of 2001 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended, the Criminal Court is composed of a presiding judge and two other judges, and acts as a court of first instance for felonies. In this case, the criminal court applied articles 503 (2), 505, and 509 of Legislative Decree No. 340 of 1943 on the Penal Code, which penalize sexual violence against minors.
Article 503 (2) states that whoever engages in sexual intercourse by violence or threat with a person who is not his spouse and the victim is under the age of 15 must be punished by a term of imprisonment not less than seven years with hard labor.
Article 505 provides that when sexual intercourse involves a minor under the age of 15, the offender shall be punished by at least five years of hard labor. The minimum sentence is seven years if the victim is under the age of 12.
Pursuant to article 509, any person who commits indecent acts against a minor who is under 15 years of age must be punished by a term of imprisonment with hard labor between three and fifteen years. If the minor is under 12 years of age, the punishment must be imprisonment with hard labor between four and fifteen years.
The court set the defendant’s punishment at 68 years because he violated all three of these articles against all three victims.
George Sadek, Law Library of Congress
September 13, 2024
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