An original translation by Tania Groth with much thanks

From this Swedish publication:

(Symbol photo not included)

August 28, 2019

After a period of grooming on Snapchat, 17-year-old Mikael Shaba managed to trick a 12-year-old girl to descend into the basement of the house where he lives. There he brutally raped the girl until she bled from the abdomen. He then bragged about the incident to his friends. The Eskilstuna District Court (B 1850-18) is of the opinion that the crime should be punished with approximately one week of youth service and a number of conversations with a social assistant.

On June 21, 2018 Mikael Shaba made a date to meet with the 12-year-old girl and one of her friends in Strängnäs, where they all live. He suggested that they hang out for a while in his basement, which he had furnished with a sofa and where the girl would be able to recharge her mobile.

Once in the basement, Mikael quickly attacked. He pushed the girl against the wall, ripped off her pants and inserted several fingers into her abdomen so that she began to bleed. Then he just as brutally forced his penis into the girl, causing severe pain and additional bleeding. During the rape, Mikael also inflicted other violence upon the girl’s body so that painful bruises appeared.

“Comes from another country”

Under interrogation by the police, the girl said that she knew who Mikael Shaba was before he contacted her on Snapchat. She said that he “comes from another country,” but did not know which one. She described how, after the abuse, she had a lot of pain in her abdomen (which was essentially ripped open) and that she had difficulty walking.

However, the girl did not dare to tell her parents what happened. A few days later, however, the incident came to her brother’s notice after he heard Mikael and his friends talk and laugh about the rape. The mother was informed and reported the matter to the police.

The girl also stated that Mikael Shaba knew very well that she was only twelve years old. He himself stated that he thought she was over fifteen years old, but at the same time denied that he had had intercourse with her. He said that the abdominal injuries were self-inflicted.

Denies crime

The girl and her friend had pictures from when they were at Mikael Shaba’s gate at the relevant time. But according to Mikael, these could have been taken at any gate, and if they were from his gate then they got in there without his help, which he claimed is simple, because the lock is broken.

Mikael Shaba also denied bragging and joking about the incident. Instead, he claimed that it is the 12-year-old girl who spread the rumour and that he felt defamed, something he claimed to have reported to the police. Even the girlfriend who was with the girl at the event, according to Mikael Shaba, was lying.

At the same time, the friend said she did not see the rape herself because she was sitting in another room in the basement when it was committed. However, she claimed to have heard screams of pain from the girl from the room next door, and other strange noises.

The friend also stated that she saw that the girl was very hurt when she squatted down to pee in a grove after they both ran from the scene of the rape. She also said that the girl somehow seemed to be in a state of shock.

For reasons that are not clear, but which the District Court is concerned about, the police investigation took more than a year to complete. It also appeared that the girl was mentally traumatized after the rape, partly by the abuse itself but also by being called a “whore” by Mikael Shaba’s friends and being accused of lying.

Psychological trauma

The girl is said to have had psychosomatic symptoms as a result the event; she has lost so much hair that she now has large bare patches on her head, among other things. According to testimony, the girl has also had at least 40 conversations with a psychiatrist.

The district court writes in its verdict that it is considered beyond all reasonable doubt that Mikael Shaba raped the 12-year-old girl, and that he knew of her age or at least should have realized that she was a minor. The court therefore says that Mikael Shaba should be convicted of the rape of a child and not of the less serious charge of sexual exploitation of children.

No prison time due to young age

The court finds that the crime carries a penalty of two years in prison, which is the minimum penalty for the rape of children, where the sentence scale runs from two to six years in prison. However, because of Mikael Shaba’s young age, the court is of the opinion that he should not be sentenced to prison at all, nor to confined youth care.

The court also reasoned that Mikael Shaba should be given a 50 percent discount on the number of hours of youth service he is to be sentenced to, and has therefore decided on 50 hours instead of 100. The reason for the reduction of the sentence is that it should be considered part of the penalty that Mikael Shaba had to participate in a counselling program according to an established “youth contract”. Specifically, according to the annex to the judgment, this consisted of his having to talk to a social assistant 15 times for 45 minutes each session about violence.

Mikael Shaba has previously been convicted of illegally driving a vehicle.