United Kingdom: woman born of rape obtains conviction of biological father, 40 years later

British justice on Tuesday sentenced a 74-year-old man for the rape of a minor committed over 40 years ago, thanks to the "determination" of his biological daughter born of this crime, who provided her DNA.

Carvell Bennett, 74, was convicted in a court in Birmingham, central England, of a 1970s rape of a 13-year-old minor and sentenced to 11 years in prison .

This decision was made possible by the "relentlessness and determination" of the child born of this crime, who "sought to obtain justice in this case for herself and for her mother", underlined the judge Martin Hurst .

"Intergenerational trauma"

After the rape, the victim became pregnant and gave birth at 14 to a little girl, whom she had adopted. The now adult child, who cannot be identified to protect her mother's identity, only discovered the truth about her conception when she was able to view her adoption record at 18. A "terrifying" discovery, she told the court, saddened to be "the embodiment of one of the worst things that can happen to someone." 

"Put under the carpet" by the authorities at the time of the offense, according to the judge, the case was only revived after the victim's daughter campaigned for a reopening of the investigation and convinced his biological mother to file a complaint.

It was thanks to an analysis of his DNA that Carvell Bennett was formally identified as a father, although he had always denied his paternity.

"Because you chose to rape a child, I was stolen my birth identity on the maternal and paternal side", accused the woman, regretting to suffer from "intergenerational trauma".

The accused, who refused to apologize during the trial, admitted to the intercourse but claimed the victim consented and believed her to be 16 years old. A "ridiculous" claim according to Judge Hurst.