France: Heavy sanction against a Moroccan photographer found guilty of raping 15 women

HIBAPRESS-RABAT

The criminal court in the French capital, Paris, sentenced Salim Berrada, known as the “Tinder rapist”, to 18 years in prison.

The accused, a 38-year-old former Moroccan photographer, was found guilty of 12 rapes and three sexual assaults.

The judge read the names of the victims one by one. He also stressed that the incidents committed between 2014 and 2016, for which Barrada faced up to 20 years in prison, concerned “young women and even young girls”. Berrada lured them to his home through online messages offering to participate in photo shoots.

Furthermore, the judge underlined “the certain importance of the harm” inflicted on the victims and the “significant change they faced on a personal and professional level” which continues to this day.

He also explained that Salim Berrada was accused of similar acts committed immediately after his release in this case in 2019, after two and a half years of pre-trial detention. It should be noted that the judgment is annexed to a decision which obliges him to permanently leave French territory.