There are now 26 girls and women who have reported against Gianni de W. (24) from Etten-Leur. He is said to have blackmailed a total of 171 girls in the largest online abuse case involving minors in the Netherlands ever. This became apparent on Friday afternoon during the third pro forma hearing in the court in Breda.
At the previous session in April, the court still spoke of ‘about 150 girls’ who were allegedly extorted by De W. That counter now stands at 171. It concerns 93 minors, of whom 24 have already reported, and 40 adults. Of the latter group, 2 victims reported the incident. It is not clear who they are of 38 victims in total.
De W. himself was not present at the hearing. He was also missing in April. According to his lawyer, he is overwhelmed by the media attention. The judge indicated that it would be nice if De W. was present at the next pro forma hearing in October. “Even for him. Then he will not be attacked during the substantive treatment, which he must be present anyway. If necessary, we will have him fetched.”
Children’s judge
That substantive treatment will not start until early next year. Because De W. extorted some of his victims when he was still a minor himself, those specific cases may also be dealt with under children’s law.
Incidentally, De W. does cooperate with the investigation. For example, he has already made a statement about a number of victim files. He also participates in psychological treatments. According to his lawyer, he would like even more. “At the moment he has about one conversation every two weeks. But he needs more frequent conversations with professionals.”
South Pole
The investigation called ‘Zuidpool’ came to light after a girl from North Holland reported extortion. She was then 15 years old. The police found 150 folders with different girls’ names in De W.’s computer. According to the Public Prosecution Service, some subfolders contain thousands of photos of one victim.
The man contacted under a false name. For this he used names like Bryan.snapx and Bryansnelgeld. He approached his victims through social media, such as Instagram and Snapchat. He started a conversation and offered the girls money if they sent a nude photo.
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