Delft man, 68, facing 2 years in prison for organizing gang-rape of underage girl

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended that judges convict 68-year-old Paul P. from Delft for the sexual exploitation of an underage girl. The man allegedly organized gang rapes in his apartment, during which multiple men paid money to have sex with the 16-year-old girl. The prosecutor in the case said a 30-month prison sentence would be appropriate, including six months which could be conditionally suspended.

“She was used as an object,” the prosecutor said in the District Court in The Hague on Wednesday. The victim’s boyfriend at the time persuaded her to participate in the "gangbangs" that P. organized, prosecutors alleged. The victim said that she participated because she could not say no to her boyfriend. He was convicted separately in December for his role in the case, and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

P. subjected the victim to two such gang rapes involving men who responded to advertisements, investigators alleged. Five men sexually penetrated her each of the two times, and they paid 150 euros each to participate. The victim received 40 euros after the first incident, and either 60 or 75 euros the second time she was exploited, the OM said.

P. is also accused of possessing child sex abuse material. Specifically, this involves three photographs where the girl can be seen. "The suspect also participated in the gangbangs himself, after all it was his home. He also had photos on his phone that the other man had taken during sex and had sent to him," the OM wrote in a statement.

The man did not attend the hearing due to health reasons, his lawyer said. In the preliminary investigation, P. confessed to organizing group sex parties, but he denied that he knew the victim was only 16 years old.

The OM rejected this defense, saying that P. “must have seen that she was not yet 18 and vulnerable.” A witness described the girl as “that small, that quiet one.” At the time, in 2017, P. was on probation after a previous child sex abuse conviction.

The court is expected to rule on the case on November 13.