Not the whore you're looking for. Photo: DPA

Man gets off for sleeping with underaged prostitute

Published: 23 Apr 09 17:19 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090423-18831.html

A Berlin court acquitted a 44-year-old man this week of charges that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl because she had already been working as a prostitute for three years.

The city’s district court ruled that the man – a pimp by profession at the time – had not taken advantage of the girl since she had been deemed fully aware of her actions on the basis of her experiences as a sex worker. The court let the man off despite recognising he had slept with the girl after he had learned her age.

The girl began working as a prostitute at age 11, a situation from which a court expert determined that she suffered from “misguided development” even though it was also established she also possessed a “strong sense of self confidence.” The girl, now 19, also testified, saying she had been the driving force behind the encounter.

"I don't understand why I'm sitting here," she told the court.

According to testimony, the man approached the girl while she was a street walker, believing she was actually 17. Only later did he find her school identification card.

The man says the girl wanted to work for him, but he refused due to her age. Following another encounter, the man broke off contact, saying that the situation became too “sensitive.”

Prostitution among adults is legal in Germany.

DDP/DPA/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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00:57 April 24, 2009 by germinator
shouldn't the headline read "Man Gets Off *By* Sleeping with Underage Prostitute"?
15:14 April 24, 2009 by petaj
'whore' is a bit of a vulgar term to use in a journalistic article
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