Belgium: A Belgian professor at KU Leuven was given a 54-month jail term on Thursday morning for raping a student in Barcelona in the summer of 2016.
The lecturer had promised one of his students that she could deliver a speech at the convention in Barcelona, Spain, in 2016, but that promise proved to be false. According to the claims, on the last day, the professor brought the student to a B&B room he had reserved for one night and raped her there.
The judgement states that he “grossly misused his position” as her master’s thesis promoter and a former teacher. “The lecturer played a surprising and perverse game with her as she aspired to a career in the area.”
When the woman returned from her vacation, she was unable to cope with the trauma and was repeatedly hospitalised at a mental health facility. Before informing the authorities of the rape in March 2018, she made a suicide attempt.
The professor disputed that it was rape while the police conducted their investigation. The court found that there was “a total absence of the sense of rules, as well as a twisted and ill mentality” and that “he cherished his physical and psychological position of dominance.”
The professor was immediately taken into custody after the court handed down a 54-month jail term. Additionally, he must pay the victim €27,014 in restitution. A symbolic €1 will be given to KU Leuven, which also launched a legal lawsuit.
