Assen rapist sentenced to 5 years in prison

A 42-year-old man from Assen was sentenced to 5 years in prison for raping and robbing a 20-year-old woman in his hometown just before Christmas last year, the court in Assen ruled. The man also has to undergo institutionalized psychiatric treatment and pay 14 thousand euros in damages to the victim, RTV Drenthe reports. The young woman was cycling to a train station in Assen on Thursday morning, December 24th, when a man on a bicycle forced her off the road. He robbed her of her debit card, demanded the pin code and then raped her. He ten blindfolded her, tied her to her bicycle and cycled away. Just when the woman thought that it was over, the man came back in a van and forced her into it. The woman finally managed to jump out of the moving van, leaving her phone behind. The suspect was arrested a short time later after the police traced the woman's phone. In court the man stated that he had been looking for someone to rob for a few weeks before he attacked the woman, because he lost his job and had financial difficulties.