ULB Campus Rape Case: Family Speaks Out on Court Verdict and Campus Safety

2023-11-29 14:45:00

Eric, the father of the student raped last December on the ULB campus, says he is “satisfied” with the judgment rendered this Wednesday by the Brussels criminal court. The suspect, Yannick F., a 25-year-old homeless man, attacked the then 21-year-old student who was leaving a building on the Plaine campus in Ixelles. He received a sentence of 12 years in prison as well as being placed at the disposal of the Sentencing Court for five years.

A 21-year-old student raped on the ULB campus last Wednesday, a suspect arrested: “The trauma will affect our daughter all her life”

“We are particularly shocked by the cynicism of the suspect throughout the trial. He constantly denied the facts and felt no remorse or regret. His behavior is astonishing given the accumulation of evidence and this demonstrates his dangerousness,” explains Eric, the victim’s father: “The words he said are chilling and I fear what might happen when he is released in 12 or 17 years.”

The suspect accused of raping a ULB student is kept in detention for a month

Many questions remain unanswered following these unspeakable facts of which the student was the victim, raped, beaten and extorted. “This individual was sentenced to 30 months in prison at the end of September 2022 for killing another homeless person on the Delta hospital construction site in Auderghem in 2019. He was released on conditions shortly following the judgment was pronounced while he had only served half of his sentence in preventive detention. In the process, he started roaming the campus. Two students had filed a complaint once morest him for exhibitionism and a few weeks later, he raped our daughter,” explains Eric.

The events took place on this path located near the NW building of the La Plaine campus. ©JC GuillaumeBruxelles – Campus de la plaine (ULB): A student was the victim of rape on Wednesday December 28, 2022 on the ULB campus. The events took place on an unlit path next to the NO building (mathematical physics). In Brussels on January 4, 2022 ©JC Guillaume

He points out the university’s share of responsibility in this dark affair. “The other positive element of the judgment is that the ULB’s civil action was rejected. The judgment highlights that it was cameras outside the campus which made it possible to identify the suspect, while the ULB says it has numerous cameras, but none was able to identify him. The fact that the civil part of the ULB is dismissed demonstrates a lack of foresight,” he continues.

Contacted, the ULB communications manager assures that the university has been leading “for several years a proactive policy to stem violence and will continue to lead this fight as long as it is necessary”. “Our university campuses must be safe places for everyone. Open to urban space, they nevertheless expose us to certain risks. The University is therefore doing everything possible to reduce them. Our security services patrol 24/7. They can be reached at any time and collaborate with the police. The risk analysis, carried out in 2023 by the FPS Interior at the request of the ULB for all of its campuses, concluded that the University security service was efficient and responsive,” explains the spokesperson. Ophélie Boffa.

“The experts noted the presence of a significant number of security agents carrying out regular rounds, surveillance videos, visible emergency call terminals reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, efficient lighting as well as access control to buildings and car parks. The safety and well-being of the university community are at the heart of our concerns and will remain so to prevent such tragedies from happening once more in the future.” , she specifies.

The victim’s family will leave Brussels

From now on, the victim’s family plans to leave Brussels. “My daughter left ULB and we plan to live far from Brussels. My daughter is better but will be traumatized for life. She is undergoing psychotherapeutic treatments to regain her self-confidence. She continues to be afraid when she goes out in the evening and left ULB directly because the events happened right next to the course premises.”

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