Iraqi Refugee Sentenced to 11 Years for Raping Chinese Students in Germany

© Global Look Press

A German court has sentenced an Iraqi asylum seeker to 11 years in prison for the “brutal rape” of two Chinese students who were studying at a local university.

“Eleven years is a tough sentence. However, it is the price for what the accused did to the absolutely innocent victims for no reason,” Volker Talarowski, judge at the town court in Bochum, western Germany, said as he pronounced the sentence. The public prosecutor’s office initially requested between 12 and 14 years behind bars for the offender.

“It is the court’s understanding that the accused had absolutely no idea about what he had done,” the judge said, as cited by the German Der Western media outlet. Nor did he understand “what unending pain he actually inflicted on the women [he raped],” Talarowski added, pointing out that the man “malignantly grinned” after one of the two victims provided testimony in court.

The offender, identified as Ziyad K., 32, sexually attacked his victims, aged 22 and 28, in August and November 2016, not far from the famous Ruhr-University Bochum, one of the largest universities in Germany.

Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

In August, he choked his victim with a shoelace and hit her over the head with a stick, the court revealed. The victim “could have died at any moment” because of choking during the incident, the judge said, as reported by Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ).

“I thought, I would certainly die,” the victim told the court, as cited by Die Welt. The second victim was also “brutally raped,” the court said, without giving any details. Both victims survived the attacks but had to deal with long-lasting posttraumatic effects.

Sexual assault combined with violence exponentially increases the trauma of the event. Life-threatening violence even more so.

Police were able to collect the offender’s DNA at both crime scenes, eventually clearly linking Ziyad K to the attacks. They also produced a facial composite of the attacker on the basis of the victims’ testimonies.

The offender was only arrested, however, after one of the victim’s fellow students took a photo of him sitting in the bushes not far from the university. The man remained silent throughout the investigation and admitted his guilt only six days ago, after the investigators had already collected extensive evidence proving it, German media report.

According to the regional chief prosecutor, Andreas Bachmann, the offender “has never demonstrated any signs of remorse” and never felt sorry for his victims, WAZ reports.

A psychology expert, Dr. Maren Losch, confirmed that the offender is “fully mentally competent” as he has a “normal psychological profile” and does not suffer from any mental disorders.

Could it be she missed something? How does a 'normal' person brutally assault another without remorse? 

She also said that the offender was fully aware of his actions during the incidents and knew they were a crime. The offender refused to make a statement before being sent to prison.

Ziyad K. came to Germany with his wife and two children in January 2016, and has lived in a refugee center not far from the university with his family ever since. According to WAZ, he was the son of an Iraqi police officer.

And after he is released from prison will he be allowed to stay in the country? He will surely strike again when he is out, there is absolutely nothing to indicate otherwise.

Teen Girls 'Humiliated' After Sexually Explicit Photos Shared

6 young men who attended a Nova Scotia school will be sentenced in July

By Angela MacIvor, CBC News 

One of the victims in the Bridgewater intimate photo-sharing case says having such a photo shared without consent can destroy trust and affect self-esteem. (Summer Skyes photography/Flickr)

When she sent selfies of her partially naked body, she thought only her boyfriend would see the images.

The teenager never imagined one of the sexually explicit photos would end up being shared with five other boys in a Dropbox account.

"Basically [he] threatened to break up with me if I didn't send him pictures. I was young and naive and just sent them, and then that's what he did with it," she said. "I just think he's a pig."

The young woman is among about 20 other victims, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban. The identities of the six young men who pleaded guilty to sharing intimate images without consent are also protected under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. The sixth officially entered a guilty plea on April 12.

The case was back in Bridgewater, N.S., provincial court today — but was adjourned until May 9 — to allow defence lawyers more time to review a joint statement of facts. Sentencing is scheduled for July 31.

The young men, who range in age from 15 to 19 years old, were all youths at the time of the offences in 2015. They all attended Bridgewater Junior/Senior High School.

The young woman says her relationship didn't last, but the implications of those images continue to haunt her.

"I definitely wouldn't want this to happen to any other teen girl in high school because I know the impact that it can have," she said.

"Other girls will judge them, make them feel bad about themselves, make them feel like a slut for sending the picture, for trusting the person. It hurts self-esteem and it makes it hard for people to trust each other."

Some of the girls were as young as 13 years old when their pictures were shared.

"They made a lot of girls feel self-conscious or bad about themselves and lose their self-esteem and trust, and they can never get that back. What those guys did was very disrespectful. No matter the age, they should know what they did was wrong," said the young woman.

The photo-sharing case will be back in Bridgewater provincial court today, when lawyers are expected to file the agreed statement of facts. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)

Sentencing options

The boys have agreed to attend educational training, similar to restorative justice. The Crown has said it's waiting to see whether the teenagers show remorse before a sentence is recommended.

The young woman who spoke to CBC News says she doesn't believe "this abuse should be taken lightly."

The six teenagers also faced charges of possession and distribution of child pornography, but those charges were dropped last month.

Only in Canada is it a Minor Offence to Destroy Dozens of Lives

Gordon Stuckless sentenced to 6½ years for sexually abusing 18 boys decades ago

'Their lives have been ruined by him, there's no doubt about it,'

defence lawyer says of victims

CBC News


Gordon Stuckless apologized in court earlier this year, saying he betrayed his young victims' trust and he alone should bear that shame. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Toronto: Gordon Stuckless, the man at the heart of the Maple Leaf Gardens sex abuse scandal, has been sentenced to 6½ years in prison for sexually abusing 18 boys decades ago.

Maple Leaf Gardens was the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL for many decades.

His sentence comes more than two years after he pleaded guilty to 100 charges for the crimes he committed.

Stuckless, 67, will receive six months' credit for time spent under house arrest, and so will serve six years.

"You ruined generations you f--king creep," one victim shouted as Stuckless was escorted out of the courtroom.

In handing down the sentence Thursday, provincial court Judge Mara Greene noted that Stuckless was a trusted figure for decades, working as a teaching assistant, a coach and at the Gardens. He took advantage of that trust to abuse his victims, Greene said, and structured his world to have access to boys.

His victims felt so much shame that it took them decades to come forward, the judge said. Some of the victims were as young as 10 and 11 years old.

Greene also noted that Stuckless had taken responsibility for his actions, is voluntarily submitting to chemical castration and has not re-offended. 

Stuckless's lawyer, Ari Goldkind, had argued that his client should face a five-year sentence, with two years of credit for time spent on house arrest and steps taken to prevent recidivism — namely the fact that he has voluntarily undergone chemical castration for more than a decade.

Outside court Thursday, Goldkind said Stuckless has turned his life around and "made a vow never to harm another hair on a child's head."

"While there may be child molesters in our midst, there may be criminals in our midst, it is not Gordon Stuckless," Goldkind told reporters.

He acknowledged, however, the damage that Stuckless did to his victims.

"Their lives have been ruined by him, there's no doubt about it," Goldkind said. "And I hope that they find, and many have found, the strength to continue."

The Crown, meanwhile, had argued for a 12-year sentence, saying Stuckless had not shown genuine remorse for his actions and could not be legally compelled to continue taking anti-libido medication.

Stuckless apologized in court earlier this year, saying he betrayed the trust of his young victims and he alone should bear that shame.

The Gardens scandal exploded in the early 1990s, when Martin Kruze became the first man to step forward to say he had been lured to the hockey arena with promises of free tickets, paraphernalia and player autographs only to be sexually abused. Police arrested Stuckless and part-time usher John Paul Roby. 

Roby was convicted in 1999 of sexually abusing dozens of young boys. He died in prison two years later.

In 1997, Stuckless pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting 24 boys while he worked at the Gardens between 1969 and 1988.

He was sentenced to two years less a day in that case, but that was later increased to six years less a year for pre-trial custody. He was paroled in 2001 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

So four years in prison for sexually assaulting 24 boys. And it wasn't even a plea bargain, but it was certainly a bargain for Stuckless.

Stuckless, who is originally from Newfoundland but has lived in Toronto for decades, returned to the spotlight in 2013 when the charges he was sentenced on today were announced. 

In 2014, he pleaded guilty to 100 charges — including indecent assault, sexual assault and gross indecency — for offences that occurred between 1965 and 1985.

At his sentencing hearing earlier this year, it was noted that Stuckless was also convicted of two additional charges relating to two of the victims.

With files from The Canadian Press and CBC's Natalie Kalata and Ali Chiasson

Perhaps the sentences were restricted but what laws were in place at the time the crimes were committed, but it's just ludicrous that he will spend no more than 8 years total in prison for sexually assaulting 42 boys more than 100 times.

I'm glad that he has reformed himself and taken steps to prevent re-occurrence of his abuse; but in 4 years he will be able to get on with what is left of his miserable life, while his dozens of victims continue to struggle through theirs.