The man who misled, defrauded and sexually exploited a woman from Ter Apel for 1.5 years has been sentenced by the Groningen District Court to thirty months in prison, ten of which are conditional. He also has to pay her more than 80,000 euros.
The 32-year-old man from Capelle aan den IJssel took advantage of her infatuation with him and deceived the woman. According to the Public Prosecution Service, he behaved as a pimp and lover boy and was guilty of fraud, exploitation and human trafficking.
The imposed sentence is the same as the demand at the hearing in the Groningen District Court two weeks ago. The ten-month conditional sentence is subject to a probationary period of three years. There is also a no-contact order with the victim and a location ban. In addition to paying compensation, he must cooperate in treatment processes.
Madly in love
The woman fell madly in love with him almost immediately after the first meeting in May 2020. The infatuation turned out not to be mutual, because the man called her ‘whore’ in contact with others.
Because she thought they would set up a sneaker business and sushi shop together and start a family, she gave him cars, 9,500 euros in savings, borrowed another 12,600 euros and then transferred 6 to 900 euros monthly and later 300 euros per week to him.
Almost behind the windows
When that turned out not to be enough, she had to earn money on social media and sites with sex photos and videos, meet up with men and she almost ended up ‘behind the windows’ in Amsterdam.
All her money, a total of approximately 60,000 euros, disappeared like snow in the sun. The man blew it away trading stocks and bitcoins, living off it and spending it on gifts and vacations with other girlfriends. He fathered a child with one of them during that period.
Not even a tenner
The case came to light when the woman was unable to deposit ten euros during a Sinterklaas party at work. Her manager advised filing a report.
During the hearing two weeks ago, the suspect insisted that everything was a joint decision. The many chats revealed a different story. The woman’s lawyer called it a typical case of grooming. Making someone fall deeply in love and then exploiting them. In addition to a prison sentence, compensation of 82,000 euros was requested for the missing money and treatment costs for the traumatized victim.
Traits of psychopathy
Psychological research showed that the suspect, although fully accountable, exhibits a large number of traits of psychopathy. His character was described as egocentric, lacking in empathy, ‘not optimal in terms of intelligence’, with antisocial and narcissistic traits.
The man’s lawyer had asked for an acquittal. After all, everything happened by mutual consent. The woman was never hit, threatened or verbally abused and retained her autonomy.