Migrant Who Sexually Abused Toddler Claims Actions ‘Playful’ in His Culture

A 32-year-old migrant from a Roma background has been sentenced to two and half years in prison for sexually abusing a three-year-old in Ireland and trying to claim his actions were “playful” in his culture.

The sexual assault took place on July 22nd 2019 just outside a hotel in Dublin. Thirty-two-year-old Gheorghe Rafaila had been staying there as a result of it being converted into a homeless shelter, and his victim, a three-year-old boy, was also a resident at the time with his mother.

The young boy was touched by the 32-year-old on his genitals just outside the hotel in the courtyard, where Rafaila was sitting on a bench with his wife. The incident was seen by the boy’s mother from her room in the hotel, the Sunday World newspaper reports.

After calling the boy back, the mother was told by her son that the Roma man had taken out his penis and touched his testicles. The mother claimed to have observed Rafaila laughing at the time and when she confronted him, she said he burst out laughing again.

Police were called by the mother and Rafaila was arrested later that day and tried to explain to investigators that he was being “playful”.

“In the Roma community, this is something playful; maybe here it is not,” he told Irish police.

Historically referred to as gypsies — some now consider this pejorative — the Roma are an ethnic group of South Asian origin, and not to be confused with Irish Travellers, who are also sometimes called gypsies because they often adopt an itinerant lifestyle similar to that of many Roma.

 

The judge in the case expressed doubt regarding the Roma custom claimed by Rafaila — who had to be extradited from the United Kingdom to stand trial — stating: “The accused was highly reckless in coming to the conclusion that the same customs were present in this country. He knew where he was. It’s hard to believe that this defendant would have thought that the same customs would operate within this country.”

The case is not the first time a migrant in Western Europe has sexually abused a child and later claimed it was either part of their culture or that they did not know the act was illegal, however.

In one case in 2021, a migrant in France accused of sexually abusing his own underage daughter for 11 years claimed that he did not realise that having sex with her was illegal in France.

Earlier that same year, an Afghan migrant who raped a 12-year-old boy also attempted to claim his culture should be taken into account following the sexual abuse.

A French judge rejected the notion, sentencing the predator, Mohammed Rahman Arsala, to 15 years.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.