Joey E. (31) from Vlijmen was sentenced to five years in prison and TBS with conditions on Thursday for abusing thirty girls aged nine to fifteen and storing their nude images. E. confessed to all the online abuse, but denied physical contact with the girls, despite their reports.
Joey E. turned out to be an atypical sex suspect. In the court in Den Bosch he spoke openly and did not spare himself. He said he was relieved that girls had reported it “to stop me”. Crying, he added: “Otherwise I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
Online abuse and nude images
He admitted that he abused thirteen girls online and saved nude photos of fifteen girls. But he denied physical contact with two girls he had met through the youth fire brigade. Despite their complaints, he said it remained just kissing.
The audience felt differently about this, as was evident from the murmurs. Some of the victims and their families followed the case via a video connection in a room of the court in Eindhoven. The right to speak of the then very young victims spoke volumes: Joey E. made their lives hell and they still suffer from it.
That’s how he worked
Joey E. started approaching girls in 2015 via Snapchat, TikTok and other social media. As in other major online abuse cases, such as those of Gianni de W., Mohamed B., Mels van B. and, for example, Fred K., he posed as a peer, started talking about sex and forced girls to send nude photos. He then demanded more images and threatened to make them public if they refused. He was caught when a girl showed these threats to her mother.
Physical contact via youth fire brigade
Things were different with two girls he actually met through the youth fire brigade. He called a 14-year-old girl his girlfriend and talked about a relationship, while he himself was 22. It was only years later that the girl reported sexual acts. He continued to deny it. He also said that with another girl who had had physical contact, it had only been kissing.
The judge asked how that was possible, given his focus on sex online. He replied: “That’s right, I didn’t go further than kissing. I don’t dare much in terms of sex, I didn’t have that shame online. That is a big problem for me.”
Joey E. became visibly emotional about his own shortcomings. The judge wondered whether he considered his mistakes worse than abusing the girls. Joey said he thinks that too, but admitted that he doesn’t really understand himself.
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“When I read this file, I see what I have done, and I don’t want that at all,” he said. “I don’t want to be a monster. I want to be treated and understand why I did this. Ordering a girl to insert a hairbrush is not normal. I don’t want to go out until I know where this came from and it is tackled at the root.”
Joey was a different person online, the judges noted. His chats with the young girls had two faces: on the one hand he was sweet and kind, but that could also change very quickly. Then he called the girls “whore” or “slut” and threatened to make their nude photos public.
Emotional at the hearing
Joey was shocked by the victims’ statements and burst into tears with each story. He could say that it was “his fault” and apologize, but the public prosecutor attached limited value to this. She saw a man who has deceived and even physically abused dozens of girls for years. There was insufficient evidence of sexual acts for the second girl, but images of her were found.
Experts determined that Joey has a personality disorder and a pedophilic disorder, which makes him less accountable. The prosecutor weighed the girls’ fear and pain against Joey’s cry for help and demanded five years in prison and TBS with conditions, as recommended by three experts. After this punishment, Joey must remain under supervision and is given a restraining order against all victims.
Joey nodded when the judge asked if he had understood the sentence. Later, his lawyer is allowed to explain his position, and Joey himself gets the last word.
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