Gallery Carre
Incest Case Dismissed Against 11-Year-Old Boy (CNN)
Mar 6th, 2025 by Jefferson
An 11-year-old Swiss-American boy will soon be reunited with his family in Switzerland after a judge in Colorado dismissed incest charges against the youngster, closing a controversial case that caused a furor in Europe.
Jefferson County District Judge James Zimmerman ordered the boy’s release Wednesday after a 3 1/2-hour, closed-door hearing on a defense motion that the youth’s rights to a speedy trial had been violated.
Under Colorado law, a defendant has a right to a trial within 60 days.
The boy had been held since August 30, the night he was rousted from sleep at his home, arrested and taken away in handcuffs.
Emerging from the hearing, defense attorneys said their client would soon catch a flight to Switzerland to join his mother and stepfather, who fled the United States with the alleged victim and their two other children after the boy’s arrest three months ago.
“He’ll be home in short order,” defense attorney Arnold Wehger said.
The attorney said the boy wrote a letter to his parents, drew pictures with crayons and ate a candy bar during the court session. Wehger added the boy “had no real understanding” of what was going on.
“He behaved remarkably well,” Wehger said. “He is a nice little boy.”
The boy also asked for pictures of all his defense attorneys to take with him, Wehger said.
Sergei Thomas, Jefferson County’s deputy district attorney, called the judge’s ruling a “technical decision” to dismiss that wasn’t based on the merits of the case. The prosecutor also said authorities remain concerned about the boy’s sister.
The boy was charged with aggravated incest and sexual assault for allegedly molesting his younger sister, and could have faced up to two years in juvenile detention if convicted. He pleaded not guilty Monday.
A neighbor in Evergreen, Colorado, where the family lived at the time, said she saw the boy pull down his 5-year-old sister’s pants and touch her inappropriately.
The boy and his parents denied the charges, saying he had pulled down his sister’s underwear to help her urinate.
The case got international attention, with Swiss and German media expressing outrage over the boy’s arrest, the fact he was held in juvenile detention and brought to court on several occasions in leg irons.
“This 10-year-old boy should never have been dragged from his home at 10 p.m. at night,” Todd said.