Actor Thijs Römer withdraws appeal over online sex offenses with three underage girls

Actor Thijs Römer will not be appealing against the sentence he received last year for abusing three underage girls on the internet, his lawyer Bénédicte Ficq wrote on X. The 45-year-old actor has thus agreed to the one-month prison sentence that he must serve.

Thijs Römer heeft besloten zijn hoger beroep in te trekken, zie persverklaring. pic.twitter.com/PC3rTDtirb

— Ficq & Partners (@FicqPartners) March 1, 2024

The three victims of Thijs Römer are "relieved" that the 45-year-old actor has decided not to appeal in the online sex case in which he is involved. "We didn't see it coming," their lawyer Maartje Schaap said.

"All three of the girls are relieved and happy that it is now over and that there will not be another trial in which things are said about my clients," says Schaap. "The time has finally come for them to start processing things."

Römer was convicted of online sexual offenses with three underage girls at the court in Assen in August. He was therefore sentenced to three months in prison, two of which were conditional. He was also sentenced to a maximum of 240 hours of community service and must undergo treatment in a psychiatric facility. Römer appealed against this because he did not accept the judge's verdict.

"I am aware that the events had a great impact on the victims and that only one person is responsible: myself," Römer said in the statement, which was shared by Ficq on X. "I was not able to properly convey this insight at the hearing last summer. I can now only 'prove' the sincerity and value of this insight by accepting the court's verdict and thus not pursuing the appeal I filed. I hope that I can bring peace to the lives of all those affected".

Between November 2015 and November 2017, the actor had incited the minors online to perform lewd acts on themselves and send nude photos. The girls were 14, 15 and 16 years old at the time.