“A reprehensible form of vigilantism and pure greed for money,” the public prosecutor said about the ‘pedo hunt’ in and around Klazienaveen from September 2022 to September 2023.
The prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of two years against the 24-year-old main suspect from Klazienaveen, of which six months is conditional. The man would also have to serve a previously imposed suspended prison sentence of three months. A 25-year-old co-suspect would only have participated in one extortion and would have to perform 200 hours of community service, according to the public prosecutor.
An 18-year-old from Klazienaveen was tried behind closed doors. The teenager was still a minor when, according to the public prosecutor, he was active as a ‘pedo hunter’ in his hometown. The teenager should be sentenced to 514 days of youth detention for his role, of which 360 days are conditional. He would also have to perform 150 hours of community service.
The suspects had a fixed method of working, the prosecutor outlined. This is evident from the six declarations that were ultimately filed.
An entrepreneur from Klazienaveen raised the alarm with the police at the end of 2022. The man had come into contact with a woman via the Chathotel website. At least, that’s what he thought. The contact continued via WhatsApp. The ‘woman’ texted that she was 16 years old.
Some racy photos were passed back and forth before the complainant blocked the woman. From that moment on, messages and phone calls came to him.
The entrepreneur had to pay 15,000 euros to prevent publications of the app conversations and photos. The blackmailers threatened to inform the staff. The victim’s wife has since received the same messages. No money was paid, but a report was filed.
In March 2023, a 21-year-old man from Klazienaveen was heard. His telephone number was in the complainant’s phone. The twenty-something was sentenced to community service for his part in the police court in January of this year.
His three co-suspects were arrested shortly afterwards and more victims came into view. The ‘pedohunters’ did not shy away from breaking the windows of one of them as a means of coercion. A debit card with a code was obtained from another man. The debit card withdrawal failed because there was no money in the victim’s account. The (then) minor suspect was recognized in the images from the bank.
Filmed conversations with complainants were also found on the suspects’ phones. The suspects entered the home of one of them. The resident made an appointment via Bullchat in September 2023. Two men walked in on him. The resident was called a pedophile and the house was searched. The resident was filmed and forced to say that he wanted to have sex with a minor.
The victim managed to grab a knife from the kitchen and chased the intruders out of the house. “There was no respect shown in any way for the emotions and fears of another,” the prosecutor said. He suspects that the 24-year-old suspect has committed more such crimes. “The data carriers of suspects contain indications of more victims.”
Not everyone files charges in these types of cases, the prosecutor said. “That has to do with the own role of the declarants.” The incident in the house is the superlative for him. Such offenses carry heavy prison sentences. The public prosecutor only has to take the passage of time into account.
The verdict is on December 16.