Court of Appeal reduces prison sentence for child sexual assault case in Lahti

The Court of Appeal in Eastern Finland has reduced the prison sentence for a severe case of child sexual assault. The Lahti District Court had previously imposed a seven-year prison sentence about a year ago, which has now been cut by two years by the appellate court.

The Court of Appeal justified the reduction by citing the offender’s two prior convictions from 2021 and 2022. The perpetrator had engaged in sexual relations with a child who was between 13 and 15 years old on multiple occasions from November 2019 to October 2021.

Now 24 years old, the man was sentenced in December 2023 at the district court for various offenses that took place in Lahti. He was also ordered to pay the victim a total of €33,000 for emotional suffering and psychological harm. Additionally, the appellate court reduced the compensation amount by €2,000.

Otherwise, the original sentence from the district court remains unchanged.