Rapist is jailed for six years over beach attack on girl, 15
A TEENAGER who raped a girl of 15 in the sea was yesterday jailed for six and a half years.
Gabriel Marinoaica, 18, grabbed the girl as she played a game of catch with friends and dragged her out of her depth.
He then raped and sexually assaulted her in a “brazen” attack off a packed Bournemouth beach on one of the hottest days of 2021.
Marinoaica, who was at the seaside with his parents, placed his hand over the girl’s mouth to stop her from screaming out during the attack.
The victim, who could not swim, broke free and managed to make it back to the shore.
She reported the rape to police who recovered a DNA sample from her bikini bottoms.
It was another 11 months before Marinoaica was identified through police inquiries and an appeal on TV’s Crimewatch.
When his DNA matched the sample he was charged with rape and sexual assault.
Marinoaica, who is now 20, denied the charges and claimed he and the girl had consensual sex.
Vulnerable
But a jury found him guilty last month after a four-day trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Susan Evans said: “It was a brazen act in broad daylight with many people around.
“The beach should be place and a place young a safe people should go without fear of being raped or sexually assaulted and you have undermined public confidence in a public space like that.
“You have caused life-long harm to her. She was particularly vulnerable, being 15 and unable to swim, and being taken out of her depth.
“You placed your hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream and get help and it’s quite apparent from that act you knew she was not consenting.”
Judge Evans added that the fact he was 18 at the time meant she was obliged to “significantly reduce” his sentence to “reflect his youth and immaturity”.
The court heard that Marinoaica, fromWalsall,West Mids, was at the beach with his parents, younger brother and a friend on July 18, 2021. The girl went to the beach with friends to enjoy a Sunday afternoon of sunbathing.
Her group had been playing with a ball in the sea close to Bournemouth Pier when Marinoaica pounced.
In a victim statement read out in court, the girl said she was “haunted” by her ordeal.
Tears
She said: “I used to have a huge love for the beach and sea but I have lost it.
“I have tried to walk along the beach with friends and it was so hard trying to fight back tears.
“I will forever avoid that side of the beach. I feel so unsafe in the water now. It fills me with fear.
“I often struggle to sleep and see him in my nightmares.”