Lauri Tähkä was convicted of forcing a sexual act. One point in the punishment surprised the professor of criminal law.
- The three-month punishment was mitigated by twenty days due to the negative publicity Tähkä received. The artist was sentenced to 70 days probation.
- The professor of criminal law considers the mitigation of the sentence to be a surprising but interesting solution.
- Under current legislation, it would most likely have been sexual harassment, and the punishment would therefore have been harsher.
Artist Lauri Tähkä, 51, forced a woman to commit a sexual act using violence in a hotel room in Hämeenlinna in October 2022.
The Court of Appeal of Turku has now sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence for forcing him to commit a sexual act. If the situation had happened a couple of months later, the verdict would probably have been different.
The sexual crimes law, which entered into force on January 1, 2023, no longer recognizes the title of the crime for which Tähkä was sentenced. So the sentence would probably have been for sexual assault, which has a harsher penalty scale.
Sexual harassment is punishable by a minimum of four months and a maximum of four years in prison, while forcing a sexual act can be sentenced to a fine or a maximum of three years in prison.
Contradictory display
The charge, for which the Court of Appeal of Turku convicted Tähkä on Friday, had been overturned in the Kanta-Häme district court a good year ago.
According to criminal law professor Sakari Melander, it is “natural” in sexual crimes that the court of appeals evaluates the evidence presented in the case differently than the district court.
– Of course, the district court had also voted on the matter here. It tells about the fact that it has been a contradictory display.
– Typically, in sexual crime cases, the evaluation of evidence plays a central role. When one says one thing, the other another, the court must evaluate other indirect evidence.
Indirect evidence can be, for example, doctor’s or witness statements. In the case of Tähkä, indirect evidence has been considered, among other things, that the victim told bystanders about the incident immediately.
Publicity softened
Lauri Tähkä denied the crimes both in the Kanta-Häme District Court and in the Turku Court of Appeal. Esko Tuovinen
The Court of Appeal of Turku considered that a fair punishment for the crime would have been a three-month suspended sentence. However, as a mitigating circumstance, the court took into account the negative publicity the artist had received from the case.
Tähka was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of 70 days with mitigations.
– It was an interesting solution. Traditionally, there has been a rather reserved attitude towards the fact that publicity lowers the punishment, says Melander.
Melander says that he considers it justified in principle that exceptional publicity can justify the punishment. He emphasizes that the publicity must be exceptional.
This is why he was surprised by the Court of Appeal’s decision.
– If we have a well-known artist suspected of a crime, it is very common for the matter to be discussed in public.
This is what it’s all about
The verdict came from the events in a hotel room in Hämeenlinna in the early hours of October 28, 2022. Tähkä, real name Jarkko Tapani Suo, had performed in the city the night before.
In his hotel room, Tähkä forcibly forced the woman into a sexual act. He restrained the woman, stripped her and took advantage of her helpless or defenseless state.
In addition to kissing against her will, Tähka touched the woman’s breasts and crotch, among other things. The woman left the room a little after five in the morning. He immediately reported the incident to the hotel employee and his relatives.
Cob denied having committed the crime. However, according to what he said, he did not remember the events in the hotel room due to his state of intoxication.
Lauri Tähkä’s sex crime conviction
District Court of Kanta-Häme 2023
The district court of Kanta-Häme considered the matter in September 2023. It gave its verdict on October 27. The charge was dropped.
The court had found the woman’s story credible in itself, but one of the judges had a reasonable doubt about Tähkä’s guilt.
The votes of the two district judges were equal: One of the judges would have sentenced Tähkä, the other was in favor of dismissing the charge. The more favorable option for the accused won.
Both the prosecutor and the victim appealed the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
Turku Court of Appeal 2024
The Turku Court of Appeal considered the case in November 2024. It gave its verdict on December 13.
The Court of Appeal found the victim’s account reliable. It was considered that he had no reasonable reason to lie about what he experienced, as Tähkä’s defense had claimed.
The Court of Appeal sentenced Tähkä to a 70-day suspended prison sentence.
The punishment would have been three months, but it was mitigated by the negative publicity caused by Tähka.
Tähkä was ordered to compensate his victim 4,200 euros for suffering and temporary inconvenience. In addition, Tähkä must compensate his victim’s legal costs for approximately 13,000 euros.
Tähkä can still apply for leave to appeal from the Supreme Court.