He has denied it himself, but the court finds that there is enough evidence that an Assen resident (38) forced his ex-girlfriend to work as a prostitute. He benefited greatly from it.
Between April 2019 and June 2021, the woman worked in prostitution three times, a total of about nine months. Last year she filed a report against her ex-boyfriend. The man hooked her on crack, arranged clients, places to have sex and sometimes took her there. According to the woman, he was dominant and also regularly violent.
In total, the woman earned about 42,000 euros in all those months, half of which went to the Assenaar. With her share she bought hard drugs for both of them. The woman regularly had eight to nine customers a day.
The court in Assen, like the Public Prosecution Service, finds the woman’s statements reliable. It is a vulnerable victim with multiple disorders who had already experienced a lot of misery, it turned out during the trial last month. The OM then described the characteristic image of a loverboy who made the victim dependent and then exploited her.
‘Abused’
The man has stated that the woman did the sex work of her own accord and that he only protected her sometimes. The court speaks of a ‘far-reaching form of exploitation’. “You only abused the victim who was in a vulnerable position for your own gain,” said the judge who read the verdict to the Assenaar.
He must also pay the 30-year-old woman almost 28,000 euros in compensation. The OM had demanded 24 months in prison against the man. The court finds that sentence too high.
Acquittal friend
A 35-year-old friend of the man has been acquitted of his involvement in the exploitation. The woman received her clients in his home for a while, but according to the court it is not certain that he knew this. He was staying with his girlfriend at the time. The Assenaar has been sentenced to 40 hours of community service for involvement in Marktplaats fraud.