MAASTRICHT - The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) on Thursday demanded prison terms of up to one year against six men for committing fornication with then 16-year-old Kimberley in a hotel room in Valkenburg.
The six men heard sentences ranging from six to 12 months, including two to four months of probation for five suspects. The prosecutor demanded a 12-month suspended sentence against one of the suspects.
The men are suspected of having sex with the girl. The suspects believed she was eighteen years of age or older. But that does not exonerate them, the prosecution stressed. The customer must ascertain whether the prostitute is of age. The six suspects are the first of a total of 29 men who must answer for fornication with the girl.
The defendants' statements show that the publicity surrounding the vice case has caused married men to have relationship problems, and that they worry about their jobs and feel guilty toward their children. But the prosecution accuses the men of fretting about their own fate but showing little compassion for the victim.
Counsel for the defendants argued that, at most, the men could be blamed for inadequately inquiring about the defendant's age. The men were not pedophiles looking for minors, the defense argued. The defense pleaded for at most community service or else a suspended sentence with a possible fine.
Van de Bergh believes the girl and her pimp, Armin A., recently sentenced to two years in prison, "fooled the men."
According to counselors, the girl could not be seen to be younger than eighteen. But the prosecution believes that a client must have reasonable doubts about the age of every prostitute up to twenty years old. Often she turns out to be (much) younger in reality.
