D Walden 
Three Belgians, a Briton and a Dutchman had to answer to a criminal court in Dendermonde, Belgium. For years they exchanged child pornographic photos and videos. They also made new material themselves and used it for exchange. For example, they made footage of unsuspecting victims on the beach or in changing rooms in swimming pools. The five men also incite others to abuse children and to send the images to them.
During searches, nearly twelve million files were eventually found, the largest amount of child pornography ever found in Belgium. Forty victims could be identified. Child Focus presented itself during the civil proceedings to victims who could not be identified. The organization was awarded one symbolic euro in damages.
The judge ruled particularly harshly for the first defendant, N.M. He not only received an effective prison sentence of 16 years, but was also relieved from his rights for 20 years.
“This man was actively and obsessively looking for exclusive child pornography material and minors with whom he could experience sexuality,” the verdict says. “He had intensive contacts with other defendants to give himself a sense of normality, to have access to more children and to have child pornography produced and to abuse children without conscientious objection. He played a pioneering role and had the most international contacts. Moreover, he misunderstood his own son and stepson and deliberately and purposefully exposed them to the sexual interest of other pedophiles. ”
S.K., described during the trial as “a cool and manipulative psychopath, a nuclear pedo for whom no treatment is possible”, was sentenced to six years in prison by the judge. Two other people involved, M.T. and L.D. Sweden sentenced to 7 and 5 years’ effective prison terms, respectively. They too have lost their civil rights for several years.
For D.D., a 33-year-old seller and repairer of computer equipment from Wetteren, the court first wants to have a psychiatric examination carried out by three doctors. They should clarify whether the man had a mental disorder at the time of the facts.
D.D. is called the “librarian” of the child pornography gang. He kept a huge collection of more than ten million files of child pornography material on his computer. “I just wanted the largest collection of them all and kept downloading,” he told the judge during the trial.
According to his lawyer, the man suffers from borderline, depression, compulsive behavior and obsessions. Still according to his lawyer, he would be pedophile. He currently resides in a treatment center.
Child Focus, which had brought civil action, reacts angrily to the ruling and talks about a “lax” punishment. “Fifteen terabytes of sexual abuse images of minors, which is the same as all texts from fifteen large university libraries combined,” it sounds. “The verdict is a jaw blow to victims. These victims are marked for life, they don’t come off cheaply after five, six, seven or sixteen years. They carry the injuries for the rest of their lives. ”
“Part of the sentences have already been served and only half are definitely executed”, Child Focus continues. “The defendants may therefore be free again very soon.” Judges, according to Child Focus, must continue to act vigorously and send a clear signal by imposing high penalties and continuing to monitor perpetrators.
“Despite the great complexity of the case and the immense challenges in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children, the investigators had managed to uncover this broadly branched network, but this statement almost nullifies this hard work,” said Child Focus. “It is also striking how there is still little or no guilt awareness among the perpetrators, because according to some they are simply pedophiles and there is nothing to change or there was no therapy available. And that of course worries us, because the chance of recidivism is extremely high in such a case and also endangers other children who are potentially victims. ”
Child Focus believes that potential offenders who walk around with pedophile feelings, fantasies or impulses and who are not known to the courts should receive better support. “We continue to advocate for maximum awareness of and more resources for the Stop It Now line in Flanders, but also for a French-speaking helpline for people with pedophile feelings that can refer perpetrators and potential perpetrators to a wider range of help.”
