Men in court on underage prostitute sex charges

The trial against 27 suspects in the Valkenburg teen prostitution case starts in Limburg on Wednesday. The men are accused of paying a then 16 year old girl for sex. The court has set aside 5 days for the treatment of this case. The Public Prosecutor believes that there is enough evidence to prove that these 27 men had sex with the underage girl. Some of the suspects have asked the court that the trial be kept behind closed doors, because they are afraid of a scandal. The court will make that decision today, Limburg court press judge Joan Holthuis told RTL Nieuws, adding that openness is important and that means deviating from it only in exceptional cases. Should the trial be held publicly, the suspects are allowed not to attend, unless the court orders them to. "If we find it very important to speak to the suspects themselves and look them in the eyes, we can still fore them to come in." Holthuis said. Nino Pennino, the lawyer representing the girl and her parents, hopes that the court convicts the suspects and orders them to pay compensation to his client. He feels that this would make other people think twice about hiring an underage prostitute, because they could be punished financially. "Then you take the sting out of the pimp practice. And that is something my clients find very important." Armin A., the pimp in this case, was sentenced to two years in prison last week.