Facts
On June 18, 2021, the District Court of Winterthur convicted the appellant [A.] of sexual acts with a child (committed on July 3, 2020) to a 10-month suspended custodial sentence, revoked two suspended fines pursuant to penal orders dated August 7 and November 28, 2018, and expelled him from the country for 6 years. It also imposed a lifelong professional activity ban pursuant to Art. 67 para. 3 lit. b of the Swiss Criminal Code for any professional and any organized extraprofessional activity involving regular contact with minors. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed [A.] 's appeal on January 20, 2022.
Considerations
The appellant claimed that the statements of the victim were inadmissible, among other things due to impermissible anonymization through a mask during the interrogations, violation of his participation rights, and lack of statements based on his own perceptions. However, the Federal Supreme Court rejected these objections. It considered the victim's statements to be credible and admissible, as her facial expressions and gestures were visible despite the mask, and the defense had had sufficient opportunity to question her.
The Federal Supreme Court also found the factual findings and assessment of the evidence by the lower court to be coherent and not arbitrary. The appellant had made himself guilty of the offense of sexual acts with a child by his conduct, in which he pressed or rubbed his erect penis against the buttocks of the then 12-year-old victim. The Federal Supreme Court saw no reason to doubt the lower court's…