Because the suspect is already in custody, his face has been made unrecognizable. Anyone who thinks they recognize the man or his working method is asked to contact the police. — © VTM – Faroek
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26 women have already filed a complaint against a 40-year-old who promised them money in exchange for sex, but ultimately did not pay. The perpetrator himself was arrested and is in pre-trial detention, but the police fear that there are still victims who have not filed a report and are calling for them to do so. “We take this very seriously,” the local Antwerp police said. The prosecutor’s office considers the facts to be rape.
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One of the victims testified anonymously and under a cover name in the VTM investigation program Faroek on Wednesday evening. She was in financial trouble in February this year and was looking for a way to earn money quickly. She ended up on a website where she could offer sexual services in exchange for money. A certain Koen first contacted her via chat, then the conversation continued on WhatsApp.
The victim describes how in his messages the man initially comes across as sympathetic and gains confidence. He also offers an amount that is much higher than what the victim had in mind. But once she meets him in person, things turn out to be different. He is much heavier and less well-groomed than can be deduced from his profile picture and also appears to be no longer as sympathetic. Yet the victim dutifully keeps the agreement.
Declaration
The days after that, “Koen” continues to ask via WhatsApp to meet again, but he does not pay. After a few weeks, the victim therefore reports the crime online to the police. Out of shame she does not dare to go to the police station. Three weeks later, the police receive a complaint from a woman who was forced to have sex without a condom when she did not want to. The interrogation showed that she, like the first victim, had not been paid.
An investigation is started, the suspect is identified and interrogated and his mobile phone is read. As many as 26 victims have now been identified. They vary greatly in appearance and age and many of them had no experience with paid sex. We did have one thing in common: they were all in a vulnerable financial situation when they came into contact with “Koen”.
Rape
The suspect himself is in pre-trial detention. None of the 26 women would have consented to sex if they had known in advance that the suspect would not pay. That is why the public prosecutor’s office considers the facts to be rape. However, the police fear that there are still victims who have experienced the same, but have not reported it. After all, the investigation shows that the suspect was very intensively engaged in sorting out his victims.
It concerns a man with a white skin color. He is forty years old, but looks older according to many victims. He has light-colored hair that he sometimes combs back with gel. He is in Dutch and uses false profile pictures and first names such as Koen, Peter, Arno or Arne and common surnames.
Thirteen of the known victims come from Antwerp, but the man also struck in all other Flemish provinces. As far as is known, he did this between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2020. “We ask women who recognize this man and his working method and may have become victims to come to us and file a report. We understand that this is not easy, but we take this very seriously and want to listen to their story, ”says Kevin Beeckaert of the Antwerp local police.
You can contact the police via the toll-free number 0800 / 30.300 or via [email protected].
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