The Public Prosecution Service (OM) on Thursday demanded prison sentences of ten and eight years and TBS with forced nursing against Romeo (Hans) A. and Nico L. respectively for human trafficking and sexual exploitation of boys and men who had to work as escorts. According to the suspects, everything happened on a voluntary basis.
“Welcome to the club,” the officer opened the requisitoir. “Welcome to the club where predators look for prey”, referring to the two suspects who, according to the OM, let vulnerable people work for them as prostitutes.
A total of thirty boys and young men were approached by the police because they were said to have been victims of the men. The cases of eleven of those victims between “roughly fifteen and twenty years” are charged to the suspects.
The same ritual emerges from the victim statements made during this case. They were actively approached or responded to an advertisement from the suspects because they wanted to become an escort.
To see if they were suitable, a trial date took place first. This meant that the person in question had sex with 60-year-old L. or 64-year-old A.
Victims were vulnerable people
Often photos and videos of the sexual acts were also made for a profile on Boys4u, a website for gay escorts. These images were largely found among the suspects. Because it also concerned photos and videos of minors, the Public Prosecution Service speaks of child pornography.
The victims mainly had sex with their clients in L.’s house in Utrecht. However, they also did this in A.’s home in Utrecht.
The victims, not all of whom had reached the age of eighteen, are vulnerable people. For example, they stayed in institutions or suffered from disorders. One of them lived on the street and had just mastered the Dutch language.
According to the judiciary, A. had the more businesslike attitude of the two. “He had a good network and arranged the agreements with the customers,” said the OM. “L. thought more with his genitals and was especially interested in sex”.
Both A. and L. received part of the money that was earned from the prostitution, although they themselves say that the money was only intended to cover the expenses. They used it to buy lubricant and condoms and pay for gasoline.
Suspect has partly confessed
L. has admitted to approaching boys and men for prostitution, but says he never forced them. He also says he had sex with underage boys.
A. contradicts all charges. He calls the victims “false friends” who “all lie”. According to him, the boys and men wanted to have paid sex themselves and he said he only helped them.
Both men have been convicted several times for sex with minors.
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