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A 56-year-old Syrian-born doctor living in Germany has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison for raping a 14-year-old girl in his office at a hospital in Lower Saxony.
The verdict was delivered by the Osnabrück Regional Court on Thursday after a trial held largely behind closed doors to protect the underage victim.
As reported by NDR, the Court found that the doctor, a heart specialist working at the Schüchtermann Clinic in Bad Rothenfelde, met the teenager through an internet chatroom. In December 2023, he picked her up from Osnabrück Central Station and brought her into the clinic through a side entrance during his weekend shift. He had told colleagues he was stepping away to care for his ill wife.
According to the ruling, the doctor raped the girl multiple times in his office, despite her protests and expressions of pain. After the assault, he gave her €100 and escorted her back to the station. The girl reported the incident to the police that same evening.
The teenager was not a patient at the clinic. Prosecutors described how the doctor created a false pretext to leave his duties and be alone with the girl, even asking a nurse to find adhesive tape under the pretense of administering an IV to his wife.
The doctor denied raping the girl but admitted to sexual contact, claiming it was consensual. His lawyer, Dr. van Lengerich, argued the girl had never voiced objection and questioned the reliability of her account, suggesting that her therapy before the trial might have influenced her testimony. “Suggestive influences are well established in such therapies,” he said, also alleging the girl may have acted out of fear of her parents.
Despite these claims, the Court found the girl’s testimony consistent and credible. Judges concluded that the man had raped and injured the girl, who had clearly communicated her unwillingness during the encounter.
She rejected multiple financial settlement offers, including one for €12,000.
The final sentence was significantly lower than the 15-year maximum allowed under German law for such offenses.
The doctor has one week to appeal. His lawyer declined to say whether he would pursue that option.
