The Zurich High Court has increased a Romanian man’s prison sentence for two brutal, random rapes to 14.5 years, while rejecting prosecutors’ demand that he be placed in indefinite preventive detention.
He must also leave Switzerland for 15 years after completing his sentence. However, the ruling is not yet final and can still be appealed to in the Federal Supreme Court.
A 30-year-old Romanian construction worker admitted to two aggravated rapes before the Zurich High Court on Monday, 19 October 2026. However, prosecutors demanded a harsher sentence and preventive detention.
The hearing comes after the public prosecutor’s office appealed a 2025 ruling by the Hinwil District Court, arguing that the lower court’s 13-year sentence was excessively lenient given the offender’s violent history and the risk he poses to the public, according to courtroom reporting by Keystone SDA.
The charges stem from two separate, predatory ambushes targeting random women in the canton of Zurich.
“Women must be protected from this man,” the prosecutor argued, adding that the attacker “literally jumped out of the bushes”.
The first incident occurred in August 2022, shortly before 2:00 am in Wetzikon, where the defendant ambushed a 23-year-old woman walking home from the local Chilbi festival. Court records show he beat her with his fists before dragging her into a nearby meadow to assault her.
The second assault occurred in February 2023 in Wädenswil. There, the man ambushed a 63-year-old woman in a wooded area and subjected her to a sexual assault.
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Zurich Court Gives Rapist 14.5 Years: Ruling Can Still Be Appealed In Federal Supreme Court
Appearing before the appellate judges on Monday morning, the defendant confessed to both crimes while attempting to contextualise his actions with substance abuse.
During questioning, he told the court that he had thought at the time that the acts would not be so serious if they were brief.
He added that he regretted his actions, described them as terrible, and stated a willingness to enter therapy to prevent future recidivism. He had previously attributed his conduct to the combined influence of alcohol and cocaine.
The case details the defendant’s prior criminal record abroad. The prosecutor noted that the man had been convicted of manslaughter in the United Kingdom in 2019 following the death of a bouncer, serving less than 16 months of a four-year sentence.
