Rabat- A court ruling that sentenced a 57-year-old pedophile to two years in prison on Tuesday is causing human rights organizations to lobby the government for harsher penalties for convicted pedophiles in Morocco.
It seems as though Moroccan courts encourage pedophilia. Although Morocco’s penal code punishes sex offenders with up to 30 years in prison, a court sentenced a 57-year-old pedophile to only two years in prison after he was caught sexually abusing a 10-year-old child.
The family of the victim, human rights organizations, and the Moroccan people were disappointed to hear the court’s sentence.
The court sentence stirred controversy in the Moroccan public. Thousands of Moroccans watched the shocking video that shows the moment when the pedophile was caught with the victim in a house in Marrakech. The video went viral on social media.
Talking to Alyaoum24, President of the Human Rights Moroccan Association Ahmed Elhayej said after the Spanish pedophile Daniel Fino Galvan was pardoned, “I am no longer surprised that Moroccan Courts make light sentences for convicted pedophiles.”
Ahmed Elhayej revealed that judges hand pedophiles light sentences “because pedophilia has become something usual for them, as number of pedophilia cases has grown in the past 20 years.”
Elhayej goes on to add that the Human Rights Moroccan Association is not satisfied with these light sentences. “When it comes to pedophilia cases, compassion and tolerance are not allowed to judges.”
Najia Adib, President President of Moroccan association “Don’t Touch My Child,” considered this light sentence as “an encouragement to pedophiles in the country.” Najia Adib goes on to add that Moroccan courts should make penalties harsher for convicted pedophiles in order to stop the rise in the sexual exploitation of children.
Earlier this year, Najia Adib told Radio Sawa in an interview that Don’t Touch My Child and the mothers of pedophilia victims would make an appeal to lawmakers to impose chemical castration or death as punishments for convicted pedophiles.
Edited by Timothy Filla