The judge in Ghent has sentenced LD (61) from Assenede to 6 years in prison and 15 years in court for raping his 11-year-old step-granddaughter. The girl only dared to raise the alarm after she saw an item on Karrewiet about the helpline for young people. “These are particularly serious facts with a major impact on the victim and her family.”
The 61-year-old LD from East Flanders was on trial for assaulting the sexual integrity of his granddaughter. When the facts took place the girl was nine years old. At one point the girl was staying with her step-grandfather, after which he put his nine-year-old step-granddaughter in iron shackles. He sexually assaulted the girl and ordered her not to tell anyone. “It’s our little secret,” it sounded like a threat.
The court took the facts seriously and sentenced LD to six years in prison. He was also made available to the sentencing court for 15 years. “These are extremely serious facts with a major impact on the victim and her family. The facts are particularly serious and there is a chance of recurrence,” the judge justified the verdict this morning. He must also compensate the civil parties. The man was actually on trial for sexual assault, but the judge also considered it proven that LD raped his step-granddaughter. The possession of child pornography has also been proven.
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Only when she saw an episode of Karrewiet with a reference to the youth helpline Awel did she dare to play the song in question. She told what her grandfather had done to her to the counselor on the other end of the line, who advised her to tell her parents everything. They in turn informed the police.
The public prosecutor’s office started an investigation into the facts. During the investigation, investigators examined his cell phone. Images were then found of one of the girl’s abuses. The same mobile phone also contained hundreds of other images of child abuse that he had obtained via the internet. The man had also uploaded images of sexual abuse of animals to his mobile phone, it turned out.(lmd, cds)
