Ex-U.N. worker convicted of rape
A former mechanic with a U.N. peacekeeping mission was convicted of raping African teenagers during his posting in the Central African Republic and Congo.
A Paris court sentenced Didier Bourguet, 44, to nine years in prison for about 20 rapes committed between 1998 and 2004, when he worked as a civilian United Nations employee.
State prosecutor Pierre Kramer lashed out at the defense team for arguing that the girls, ages 12 through 18, had consented.
A U.N. finding in 2005 that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with women and girls, often in exchange for food or a little money, led to a new code of conduct.
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