While taking a taxi to school, a 13-year-old girl was forcibly raped by the taxi driver, whom she had previously encountered. After learning about the incident, the girl’s mother reported the driver to the police and he was subsequently convicted at trial for rape and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at hard labor. At trial, the driver’s defense was one of alibi—a denial of his involvement in the offence.
In Campbell v. Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that rape under G.L. c. 265, § 22 qualifies as a predicate offense under the “force clause” of the pretrial detention statute, G.L. c. 276, § 58A.
Marcia Jones was killed by Anthony James Fiebiger and his friend. Fiebiger and his friend decided that they wanted to go to Grandview Park to molest and rape somebody. They encountered Marcia and asked her if she wanted to go with them to the park to smoke marijuana. Once in the park, Fiebiger strangled Marcia until she fell to the ground.
The appellant was convicted of rape under the Combating of Rape, Act 8 of 2000 (the “Act”) in the Regional Court for inserting his finger into the vagina of his friend’s eight-year-old daughter (the “complainant”). This insertion caused bruising to the complainant’s vagina that lasted longer than 72 hours. The complainant’s hymen, however, remained intact. The appellant was sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which five were conditionally suspended.
Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, No. 4. ÚS 3248/24 (2025) on the right to adequate rape investigations.
A 36-year-old member of the Manobo indigenous people was accused of abducting a 12-year-old girl from the community, forcing her to accompany him to various locations, and raping her. He argued that he and the victim were properly engaged under Manobo traditions because the victim’s father allegedly accepted a dowry in exchange for the marriage. He was ultimately convicted of forcible abduction with rape, which he subsequently appealed.
The appellant was found guilty of statutory rape of an 11-year-old girl. He appealed, arguing that there was insufficient physical evidence of the rape. However, the Supreme Court noted that the results of the victim’s physical examination did not discount the possibility that she had been raped. The Court further noted that there are only two elements to establish statutory rape: carnal knowledge or sexual intercourse, and that the victim is under 12 years of age.
The Regional Trial Court of Bohol and the Court of Appeals found the appellant, Pedro Rupal, guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl after dragging her to a nearby farm and later threatening the lives of her mother and siblings. Rupal appealed, pointing to inconsistencies in the number of times the victim testified to being raped, and arguing that the prosecution was unable to sufficiently prove his guilt.
In State v. Musa Keita, the defendant was charged with rape and incest involving a young female relative under the then-applied Section 122 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 10:01. The High Court of The Gambia evaluated the victim’s testimony, and that of other witnesses, as well as the medical and documentary evidence, against the requirement that the prosecution prove each element of the offenses beyond reasonable doubt.
Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, No. 8 Tdo 699/2021 (2021) on the element of coercion in forcible rape.
