Increased prison sentence for old man who molested neighbor's child
Unlike the first instance trial, Mr. Vinh claimed innocence against the accusation of molesting a neighbor's girl, but was dismissed by the court.
On January 22, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened an appeal trial of defendant Nguyen Danh Vinh (80 years old) for child rape.
More than four months ago, Mr. Vinh was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court for sexually abusing a neighbor girl when she was only three years old. The victim’s family appealed, believing that the sentence was too lenient and not enough of a deterrent.
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Defendant Vinh (left) was helped by relatives after the appeal hearing. |
According to the accusation, on the morning of October 5, 2015, a three-year-old girl from the neighborhood went to Mr. Vinh’s house with a group of friends to play. Seeing the girl holding a frozen water bottle, Mr. Vinh invited her to the second floor, smashed it with a hammer, and chased the other children out. There, the old man molested the girl.
When the child resisted, he tricked her into giving him money to buy snacks to carry out his depraved plan. The incident was later reported to the authorities by the victim's family.
At the first instance trial, the defendant admitted his actions.
However, during the cross-examination at the appeal hearing, Mr. Vinh pleaded innocent, claiming that he did not commit the crime as charged. The appeals court dismissed the case because the defendant could not provide evidence.
The court determined, ignoredAccording to the investigation agency’s testimony, the on-site experiment, and the medical examination, Mr. Vinh had sexually abused the girl. The trial panel affirmed that the defendant Vinh’s behavior was dangerous and needed to be severely punished, so the two-year prison sentence was increased to 10 years.
