Esther Masschaele, an 80-year-old woman, had a terrifying experience while walking through a cemetery in Ostend, Belgium, on April 11, 2025.
The elderly woman was walking along the route she usually took to go shopping when she was struck hard on the head, causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
When she woke up, she discovered that her pants and underwear had been pulled down to her ankles. A minor was on top of her, and although she tried to defend herself, she couldn’t get him off her.
The attacker fled when he saw some cyclists approaching. Esther suffered bruises on her neck and elbows, as well as a lump on her head.
““I felt deeply ashamed; I felt dirty,”” she confessed to the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. She was so ashamed that at first she did not want to call the police.
The suspect, just 12 or 13 years old, was arrested and brought before a juvenile judge.
However, the justice system decided to release him under conditions, the details of which were not disclosed.
The decision sparked outrage and opened a debate about how the justice system should act when a suspect in a sexual violence case is still a child.