A teenage boy involved in the appalling gang-rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb has received a reduced sentence. The incident, which occurred last year, has drawn significant attention due to its violent and antisemitic nature.

Originally, the 15-year-old was sentenced to nine years in prison by the juvenile court in Nanterre, Paris, after being convicted for the sexual assault and for making antisemitic comments during the attack. However, in a recent decision, an appeals court upheld his conviction but decided to lower his sentence to seven years, also adding an educational requirement to his punishment.

The teenager, whose name has not been disclosed, was one of three boys involved in the disturbing assault that took place last summer. The trial, which garnered widespread media coverage, revealed that the boys targeted the young girl as she was near a park in northwest Paris on June 15, 2024.

According to statements made by the victim to investigators, she was forcibly taken into an abandoned building in La Défense, the financial hub in Courbevoie, Paris. There, the attackers allegedly beat her and forced her into sexual acts while threatening her life and making antisemitic slurs.

During their trial earlier this year, it was heard how the trio approached the young girl near a park in northwest Paris on June 15, 2024.

The schoolgirl told investigators she was dragged into an abandoned building in La Défense, the financial district in Courbevoie, Paris where she was beaten while the boys ‘forced’ her to have sex ‘while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks’.

She said the boys had called her a ‘dirty Jew’ and asked her questions about ‘her Jewish religion’ and Israel after they found out she was Jewish instead of Muslim. 

A 15-year-old boy who took part in the shocking gang-rape of a 12-year old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb last year has had his sentence reduced. Pictured: Henri Regnault square in Courbevoie, where the girl says she was grabbed from before being raped

The schoolgirl told investigators she was dragged into an abandoned building where she was beaten while the boys ‘forced’ her to have sex ‘while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks’

Various sex acts were then performed on the girl, and she was told she ‘would be killed’ if she spoke to police.

The boys also reportedly said they would use the images to blackmail her, before saying they would burn her, while placing a lighter by her face. 

One of the attackers is said to have asked the girl to return the next day to give him 200 euros – about £170 – as part of a blackmail plot.

The rape was filmed by one boy, and another threatened to kill the girl if she reported the ordeal to authorities, police sources said.

Two boys were indicted for ‘gang rape, death threats, and insults and violence of an anti-Semitic nature’, and were sentenced to nine and seven years behind bars.

The presiding judge justified the sentence against the two boys as being due to their ‘worrying’ personalities, ‘the immense social disturbance’ they caused to society, and the crime being committed on religious grounds.

She undoubtedly ‘would not have been raped if she had not been Jewish’, the judge said.

A third boy, said to have been the boyfriend of the victim, was described as the ‘instigator of these sordid acts’ in court and was found guilty of being complicit in the gang rape. 

Protesters hold placards which read ‘Anti-Semitism is not residual’, ‘+1000% in anti-Semitic acts, these aren’t just figures’, ‘Our lives are worth more than the imported conflict’ and ‘Raped Jewish girl, Republic in danger’ as they gathered to condemn the alleged anti-semitic gang rape of a 12 year-old girl, during a rally on Lyon Terreaux square in Lyon, central eastern France, last year 

He was not sentenced to prison due to his age, but the court imposed a five-year educational measure on him and placed him in a care facility. 

Speaking after her client had his sentence reduced, lawyer Melody Blanc said: ‘The Court of Appeal has rectified the situation by taking into account the minor’s personality,’ continued Mr. Blanc. ‘Now, my client will be able to continue the educational work that has been put in place’. 

The horrific attack last summer sent shock-waves through France and was unanimously condemned by politicians. 

At the time, President Emmanuel Macron had denounced the ‘scourge’ of antisemitism.

Several demonstrations in support of the victim were held in Paris and in Courbevoie as hundreds took to the streets to protest.

Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping slightly to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.

Jewish groups have said that the number of such attacks rose sharply following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip and aid blockade.