63-year-old Rochefort resident sentenced to 40 months for possession of child sexual abuse material
A Rochefort resident was sentenced on 6 November to 40 months of suspended prison time for possession of 485 images and videos depicting sexual violence against minors.
Conviction in Marche-en-Famenne for possession of child sexual abuse material
The correctional tribunal in Marche-en-Famenne handed down a sentence on Friday 6 November of 40 months of suspended prison with a probationary period of five years against a 63-year-old resident of Rochefort. According to DHnet, the sixty-year-old was found guilty of possessing numerous images and videos of sexual violence against minors, including rape of very young children.
The investigation was opened following information transmitted to federal police by the NCMEC, an American organisation specialising in cases of missing or exploited minors. Searches carried out in 2024 at the defendant's home in Nassogne made it possible to seize computing equipment containing numerous child sexual abuse images.
A few months after these initial searches, a further search led to the seizure of other devices — including a USB stick and a mobile phone — which the sixty-year-old had attempted to conceal from investigators.
The man admitted to having downloaded and exchanged images and videos which he himself described as "child sexual abuse material", as well as having maintained conversations of a similar nature. He described his attraction to this type of content as "morbid curiosity".
During his submissions in September, the public prosecution service had referred to 485 images and videos. The magistrate had requested five years of custodial imprisonment, not only for possession of this content, but also for harassment of his former partner, voyeurism involving the latter's children, and incitement to the debauchery of minors. This last charge was ultimately found not to be established by the tribunal.
The judgment rendered invokes the absence of prior criminal convictions of the defendant as well as his good professional and social integration to justify the suspended sentence. The condemned man must comply with several strict conditions: prohibition on consulting sexually explicit internet sites, prohibition on all virtual contact with minors, and an obligation not to be in the presence of minors without the presence of a responsible adult.
Source: DHnet