An immigrant from Afghanistan who repeatedly sexually abused young boys and girls rationalized his heinous behavior by claiming that it was ‘normal’ in his home country.
Mohammed Rahman Arsala, 32, relocated to Saint-Brieuc in northern France in 2018 and engaged in a number of criminal activities there.
He was brought back before the courts last week to account for additional offenses against children after receiving a 15-year prison sentence last year for raping a 12-year-old kid.
In July 2021, the court heard how Arsala followed the minor off a bus, grabbed his arm, and led him to an abandoned warehouse where the attack in August 2018 was carried out.
Arsala was later detained after a group of young girls who had previously been harassed by him noticed the boy’s distraught expression after returning him to the park.
The defense attorney requested that the judge take into account the “cultural element” of the case, claiming that it was standard practice in Afghanistan for men to abuse young boys.
Because women are unattainable in my nation, having sex with young boys is common, the defendant claimed.
I was unfamiliar with your rules when I first came to France, but I now know that it is forbidden.
Even though Bacha Bazi is forbidden in Afghanistan, many senior authorities participate and offenders are rarely punished.
The defendant told the prosecution that if he had been married, that would not have occurred since he would have a wife to meet his requirements.
Does he, then, only perceive people as objects?
Arsala was removed from his Brest prison cell last week to face charges for additional sex offences committed in France.
Prior to raping the 12-year-old child, the sex offender tormented and raped two young girls.
In April 2018, he went up to a girl and pretended to need assistance in his limited English before luring her into his room and locking the door.
According to Actu, the young victim reportedly said: “He slammed me against the wall holding me down with his knee.
He was way too strong.
I tried to resist, but I couldn’t get away.
He was trying to kiss me and rip my clothes off. I was terrified.
He finally said that if I wanted to leave I had to touch his penis.
He opened the door as soon as I said I would contact the cops.
She made five additional attempts at suicide before being hospitalized a few days later.
I wanted to touch her just a little, but she wouldn’t let me,’ Arsala claimed in court.
She wouldn’t have entered my room if she were a good girl.
Another minor female complained to the authorities the next month, claiming that he had begged her to have sex with him.
He was persistent and pursued her, she claimed, and she was terrified. She told her parents, who then dialed 911.
For the two assaults on the young girls, Arsala received an additional three years in prison, bringing his total time behind bars to 18 years.
He will be removed from France once he has served his sentence.
The sex bug has also been charged with photographing schoolchildren while others have seen him masturbating on a beach.
He was transferred to another facility for acting inappropriately with a female prison nurse, where he was then charged with sexually abusing an inmate.