Suspect apologizes for online sex abuse of dozens of girls; Could face 7 years in prison

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended that the court sentence 25-year-old Gianni de W. to seven years in prison with institutionalized psychiatric treatment for the online sexual abuse of 30 girls, including 28 minors. The man used his last chance to speak in court to apologize again. He should get into treatment as quickly as possible, his lawyer said.

The authorities linked De W. to 172 victims, but the case was limited to the 30 victims who filed a report against him. According to the OM, that made no difference in the sentence demand.

“I saw the angry looks and felt the sadness. That really touched me,” De W. said in court on Wednesday, addressing the victims. “I actually don’t understand how I have been able to ignore it all this time. I definitely want to do something about that. I want to come out of this a better person.”

“When all of this started, Gianni was only a 14-year-old child. It is good to keep that in mind,” his lawyer, Ronald Drenth, said.

The man made contact with his victims on social media. Under fake names, he offered girls money for sending him nude images. He never paid them, only threatened to distribute their photos if they did not send more. That is known as sextortion. His former good friends and ex-girlfriend are among the victims.

De W. instructed the girls on what to do and how to pose. Some of them had to have sex with another person and film it for him. The man’s actions had a big impact on the victims. Many of them sought psychological help and several developed suicidal thoughts. “The victim statements made a great impression,” the OM said in court on Tuesday.

De W. confessed to extorting girls online, his lawyer pointed out. “He is really sorry and wants to do everything he can so that it does not happen again,” the defense said. According to the lawyer, there is still a lot of work to be done. “That must be done as soon as possible while he is still young. So not only after a very long prison sentence or with forced treatment in a psyhciatric prison.”

Mental health evaluations showed that De W. has an autism spectrum disorder, borderline personality disorder, and a sexual deviation. According to behavioral experts, he is less accountable. They advised the court to impose institutionalized treatment with conditions on the suspect, a lighter variant of forced treatment. The defense asked the court to go along with this recommendation.

The OM urged against this lighter variant of institutionalized treatment, as it can only be combined with a maximum prison sentence of five years. De W. has caused so much pain to so many victims for years that the OM “feels forced to demand a significant prison sentence.” De W. exercised power over defenseless victims. He became angry, aggressive, and manipulative when he did not get his way. “All victims think he should pay,” the OM said.

The investigation started with a report from a Noord-Holland girl who was 15 years old when De W. started extorting her. She finally went to the police when he also approached her sister, then 14. “If she had not gone to the police, there would be even more victims,” the prosecutor said. The youngest victim was 12 years old.

The handling of the largest sextortion case in Dutch history took five hearing days. The court will rule on May 8.