France French girl, 11, 'not a child' say lawyers for man, 29, accused of sexual abuse Case rekindles debate about age of consent in France as family argue suspect should be charged with rape The suspect’s lawyers Marc Goudarzian and Sandrine Parise-Heideiger arrive at court in north-west Paris. Photograph: Francois Mori/APA 29-year-old French man went on trial on Tuesday in a Paris suburb accused of sexually abusing 11-year-old girl in a case that has rekindled debate about France’s age of consent. Defence lawyers say the man and the girl had met in a park and the girl had voluntarily followed him to an apartment and consented to intercourse. French president to launch 'cultural war' on sexual abuse Read morePresident Emmanuel Macron’s government has proposed a bill to introduce a minimum legal age for sexual consent. In November a French criminal court in November acquitted a 30-year-old man accused of raping an 11-year-old girl in 2009.

Source: The Guardian February 14, 2018 00:56 UTC