Lisanne* loved her driving instructor and quickly developed a special bond with him at the age of 17. He understood her and helped her in the most difficult period of her life. But she didn’t have to have sex with him, but she did it so as not to lose her pillar of support. But, four years later, she filed a complaint against him.
And so Lisanne and her driving instructor Guilliaume J. (51) from Boxtel were in court in Den Bosch on Monday. She with family and friends in the audience and he in front of the judges. It was a session in which her remarkable story and especially her special position became clear. Only that was not thanks to Guilliaume, because he did not say a word and always invoked his right to remain silent.
Lisanne appeared to have experienced a very vulnerable time as an adolescent. She had all kinds of disorders and sometimes she no longer wanted to live her life. And then there was driving instructor Guilliaume J. She started a relationship with her mother when she had just divorced.
Guilliaume immediately set himself up as a kind of stepfather and Lisanne felt that way too. She also took lessons with him and their relationship became more and more intense. When she was 17.5 years old, he caressed her while swimming at Aquabest and she had a first kiss, but that soon became more.
“Not until after she was eighteen.”
And that was crucial in the lawsuit: Guilliaume and Lisanne had a relationship for four years, but did they also have sex with each other before she was 18? “Certainly,” Lisanne stated and the public prosecutor came to the same conclusion. “Certainly not,” argued Guilliaume J’s lawyer. “That was only after she was eighteen.”
And that could be the difference between a prison sentence and an acquittal for the driving instructor, who was married and also has children.
For sex with a minor, the public prosecutor demanded five months in prison and another five months conditionally in case he commits another crime. She very much blamed Guilliaume J. for not wanting to say anything from the first police interrogations until the court.
J. didn’t even want to explain why he was silent. He didn’t look up or back at Lisanne either. Not even when she sat next to him to explain how vulnerable she was as a 17-year-old.
“I was afraid of losing you if I didn’t want sex.”
The double thing, she said, was that she was still there, thanks to him. “You were like a father to me at a time when I didn’t see my own father. I screamed for help and you answered. You saw me, but you also took advantage of me, because I was afraid of losing you if I didn’t want sex.”
Many people noticed the relationship between the young girl and the older driving instructor. Lisanne’s mother was concerned and the institution where Lisanne lived for a while was also very concerned about the imbalance. But for most of their relationship, Lisanne was of legal age.
J. is now divorced. He is only a part-time driving instructor at a large driving school owner after a heart attack a few years ago. If he is found guilty in two weeks and receives a punishment, he will never get an explanation about his behavior again and he can also forget about his job.
But Guilliaume J. didn’t want to say anything about this either. And whether that silent attitude will help him will become clear on February 5. Then J. hears whether he has to go to jail.
* Lisanne is a made up name. Her real name is known to the editors.