Migrant Pair Acquitted In Swimming Pool Sex Assault Case

Two Afghan adult migrants have been acquitted in a sexual assault case at a German swimming pool that involved a 14-year-old boy in the German town of Delbrück .

The two men in the case, 20-year-old Mozamel M and 25-year-old Rajab H, are said to have made the 14-year-old German boy perform various sex acts on them in the locker room of the swimming baths. A judge acquitted the pair on Thursday after stating that the victim’s testimony was not reliable, reports German magazine Bild.

Initially, it was reported that two young boys were involved. The younger of the pair was able to hide from the men, but they were able however to capture the 14-year-old in the shower, where the victim said that the men forced him to perform various sex attacks on them.

“They locked me up and abused me,” the victim told police after the pair of migrants were arrested at the swimming baths where the incident took place.

During the trial, the migrants claimed that the boy had in fact come up to them and offered sexual favours while they were all in the changing rooms. The judge then grilled the victim who had some problems recalling the exact details and timeline of what happened during the course of the incident.

These doubts led the judge to declare the 14-year-old boy an unreliable witness, even though his story was confirmed by the 11-year-old witness who managed to escape from the migrant attackers.

Both Mozamel M and Rajab H were then acquitted of all charges against them by the court. The accused were both set free and were allowed to return to the asylum home in the city where they had previously lived. Due to the fact that both were in custody for 193 days in total, they are also scheduled to get money from the government in compensation at a rate of 20 euros per day of incarceration.

Lawyers for the defence Franz Zacharias and Jann Henrik Popkes noted that they were happy about the acquittal.

Sex attacks in swimming pools have been a significant issue over the past year as migrants have abused women and children in various parts of Germany and neighbouring Austria. Many of the cases have so far not gone to court and lawmakers are having trouble finding solutions to the problem.

Some pools have tried to ban migrants altogether but have been met with fierce opposition while in Sweden police have tried to make women wear wristbands that they say will deter the migrants from committing sexual acts on them.