The Oulu District Court sentenced Hassan Mohamed Mohamud to four and a half years in prison on the charges of aggravated child sexual abuse and aggravated rape. The offences were committed on three separate occasions between July and October last year at two different hotels in Oulu.
As in the previous cases, the court found that the crime was further aggravated by the age difference between the defendant and the victim, and that the defendant had taken advantage of the girl's interest in him. The court also ruled that the defendant should have been aware of the victim's limited decision-making ability, which was a sign of the victim's young age and vulnerability.
The defendant and the victim had initially met online and kept in contact through the Kik messaging application.
Sixth of eight cases
Tuesday’s conviction and sentencing is the sixth in a series of similar cases in which the same 13-year-old girl is believed to have suffered abuse at the hands of eight men of foreign background last summer and autumn. Two additional cases are still to be tried in court.
District prosecutor Pia Mäenpää previously told Yle that there is no evidence to suggest that the suspects - all of whom did not know each other - abused the victim at the same time and or in the same place. Yle has learned that at least three of the men lived at the same reception centre.
Police say all the suspects came to Finland as refugees or asylum seekers, and that some of the eight have already been granted refugee status or Finnish citizenship.
The case was heard by two district judges and two jurors, and the court's judgment was unanimous.