OM demands five years for a man who posed as weight loss coach to sexually abuse girls
The Public Prosecutor's Office (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) has demanded a five-year prison sentence and compulsory psychiatric treatment for a so-called "weight loss coach." According to the prosecutors, 48-year-old Mohamed M. from Haarlem contacted young girls who sought to lose weight online. He pretended to be a weight loss coach and then sexually assaulted his victims, RTL reported.
M. allegedly contacted the girls through so-called pro-ana sites, which offer tips on how to lose weight. People suffering from eating disorders, such as anorexia, often frequent these sites.
"A man with a double life, who was obsessed with sex and acted without conscience," the prosecutor said Thursday at the court in Amsterdam.
The case against M. began after he was caught by Alberto Stegeman’s TV program, "Undercover in Nederland." In February 2022, the suspect believed he had arranged a meeting with a 15-year-old girl, but she was an undercover employee of the SBS6 show.
One of the victims described M. as a seemingly nice man who suddenly transformed into an "aggressive beast." M. had violently raped her orally, vaginally, and anally in the hotel room. "I was afraid I wouldn't get out alive. Once he finished, he reverted to his previous persona as a pleasant businessman. Terrifying."
According to the prosecutor, M. deliberately targeted his victims, "forcing them to submit to him mentally and physically." He lured them to a hotel under the pretense of an intake, where he then assaulted them.
The prosecutor said, “He punished anyone who refused to meet mercilessly.” One girl who declined to meet M. later discovered that nude photos she had previously sent him were posted online.
