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A 15-year-old boy who took part in the shocking gang-rape of a 12-year old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb last year has had his sentence reduced.
The teenager was sentenced to nine years in prison by the juvenile court in Nanterre, Paris, in June for sexually assaulting the schoolgirl and making antisemitic remarks.
However, an appeals court today found him guilty of all offences, but reduced his sentence to seven years and imposed an educational measure on him.
The unnamed teen was involved in the horrific rape last summer alongside two other boys.
During their trial earlier this year, it was heard how the trio approached the young girl near a park in northwest Paris on June 15, 2024.
The schoolgirl told investigators she was dragged into an abandoned building in La Défense, the financial district in Courbevoie, Paris where she was beaten while the boys 'forced' her to have sex 'while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks'.
She said the boys had called her a 'dirty Jew' and asked her questions about 'her Jewish religion' and Israel after they found out she was Jewish instead of Muslim.
Various sex acts were then performed on the girl, and she was told she 'would be killed' if she spoke to police.
The boys also reportedly said they would use images they took of her to blackmail her, before saying they would burn her, while placing a lighter by her face.
One of the attackers is said to have asked the girl to return the next day to give him 200 euros – about £170 – as part of their blackmail plot.
Two boys were indicted for 'gang rape, death threats, and insults and violence of an anti-Semitic nature', and were sentenced to nine and seven years behind bars.
The presiding judge justified the sentence against the two boys as being due to their 'worrying' personalities, 'the immense social disturbance' they caused to society, and the crime being committed on religious grounds.
She undoubtedly 'would not have been raped if she had not been Jewish', the judge said.
A third boy, said to have been the boyfriend of the victim, was described as the 'instigator of these sordid acts' in court and was found guilty of being complicit in the gang rape.
He was not sentenced to prison due to his age, but the court imposed a five-year educational measure on him and placed him in a care facility.
Speaking after her client had his sentence reduced, lawyer Melody Blanc said: 'The Court of Appeal has rectified the situation by taking into account the minor's personality,' continued Mr. Blanc. 'Now, my client will be able to continue the educational work that has been put in place'.
The horrific attack last summer sent shock-waves through France and was unanimously condemned by politicians.
At the time, President Emmanuel Macron had denounced the 'scourge' of antisemitism.
Several demonstrations in support of the victim were held in Paris and in Courbevoie as hundreds took to the streets to protest.
Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping slightly to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.
Jewish groups have said that the number of such attacks rose sharply following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and aid blockade.