Former USC member sentenced to three years in prison for rape

The student was arrested in February 2023 on suspicion of raping a young woman who accompanied him to his fraternity house in September 2022. They met each other at Dom Square after a night out. He allegedly forced her to have intercourse with him in his room, ignoring her tears and cries of pain.

After the news of his arrest, two other students filed a report against him as well. In January 2022, the same USC member allegedly raped a student from Utrecht after saying "You owe me, I still need to come". The two of them had had consensual sex before that day. According to the woman, she indicated clearly and repeatedly that she didn't want to have sex.

The USC member acknowledges that he's had sex with the two students, but he claims he didn't force them to. He also says that he didn't notice that they didn't want it and that he regrets not noticing. "I think that's awful," he declared in his hearing. "It's awful that they experienced it that way. That was never my intention."

The court found that there was enough evidence that the man forced the students to have sexual relations with him. According to the judges, it must have been completely clear to the USC member that both women didn't want to have sex or didn't want to have sex anymore, but he only cared about his own pleasure.

The man argued that it is "common" for students to have several sexual partners and engage in sexual activities with or without alcohol, but, to the court, that is no excuse. "You have to stop when your partner doesn't want it anymore. It doesn't matter if it's someone you've known for a while or someone you just met. It doesn't matter if someone is drunk or sober. It doesn't matter if someone has had many other sexual partners. And it doesn't matter if you're part of a group in which it is common to have many sexual partners," emphasised the judge.

As a special condition, the suspect must be accompanied by the probation service and cooperate with regular checks on drugs and alcohol use. In addition, he must pay 14,000 euros in damages to both students, who are both dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder after the rape, which has delayed their graduation.

The court has acquitted the USC member for the alleged rape of a third student from Amsterdam. After a night out at the student disco Woolloomooloo, the woman says she woke up in his bed confused, naked and with no recollection of the previous night. That's when he allegedly forced her to have sex, but the court found that her testimony did not provide enough evidence that the man was aware that she didn't want it. 

The public prosecutor wanted the man to be sentenced to four years in prison, of which one year would be conditional. The public prosecutor believed that the suspect should immediately serve a prison sentence if convicted, but the court did not agree with that. The accused may await a possible appeal in freedom. The court also saw no reason to impose a restraining order, so that he wouldn't approach the three students who accused him of rape.