A German firefighter accused of raping an unconscious woman has been spared from serving time behind bars after a court said it was important that he kept his job.
The Munich judge’s decision to sentence Thomas B, 28, to 11 months probation has sparked outrage in Germany for favouring the offender’s career over the victim.
If the fire brigade employee’s sentence had been more than a year, he would have lost his civil servant status, but according to German outlet ZS, the judge believed that the outcome would have been ‘very harsh’.
The rape took place in February 2022 when Thomas, from Munich, sexually assaulted his friend Jennifer L after the two saw each other at a party.
Jennifer invited Thomas back to her home for a final drink after he had confided in her about his recent separation from his wife.
She fell asleep, only to wake up hours later to find that her underwear had been taken off and that Thomas was inappropriately touching her.
The court heard a video testimony from Jennifer, in which she described the psychological toll the incident had had on her.
‘The days after the crime were terrible, very terrible,’ she said, and told of her ongoing struggles with sleep, hypervigilance and discomfort around men resembling Thomas.
A German firefighter accused of raping an unconscious friend has been spared from serving time behind bars after a court said it was important that he kept his job
Picture shows an aerial view of Munich. The Munich judge’s decision to sentence Thomas B, 28, to 11 months probation has sparked outrage in Germany
The court was ‘convinced’ that the crime had happened as Jennifer had stated and acknowledged that she ‘will not be the same for the rest of her life’.
However the court justified the lenient sentence by claiming that the perpetrator was very young and that the rape was an ‘immature reaction’ from Thomas due to his recent separation.
The court also argued that Thomas was ‘still young’ at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile Thomas, who claimed to have no memory of the assault due to his drunken state, admitted his guilt and expressed remorse, and said that he trusted Jennifer’s account.
He was also ordered to pay the victim around £5,000 in compensation and will be required to complete 80 hours of community service.
The Munich I public prosecutor’s office now wants to appeal.
‘We are of the opinion that the sentence should have been higher, which is why we requested one year and six months probation,’ senior public prosecutor Anne Leiding told German magazine Merkur.
‘In our opinion, the significant aggravating circumstances are the massive consequences for the victim and the particular breach of trust that accompanied the course of events’, she added.
Under German law, rape is punishable by a minimum sentence of two years’ imprisonment, with up to 15 years.
