A teenage suspect who allegedly took part in a gang rape of a 14-year-old girl said the victim looked like she was in pain and had a “creepy face” during the attack, local media report.
Prosecutors say the girl was abused three times by a group of 12 boys between April 2 and 6 during the Easter holidays, as horrific new details continue to emerge about the case that has shocked Belgium.
Interrogations of the suspects revealed that the girl shouted “stop” as the teenage boys attacked her, with a 14-year-old suspect saying she “grimaced” and that he “saw she was in pain”, according to a local newspaper. HLN.
The girl also appeared dizzy during the attack, turned pale and her eyelids appeared to close, according to statements.
The main suspect – the girl’s 14-year-old boyfriend – allegedly took the girl to a wooded area called Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders, Belgium on April 2 around 6 p.m. after spending the day at a fair.
Once there, the friend allegedly raped his young partner in front of the others before ‘loaning’ her out to his friends to also sexually abuse her, while the youngest of the boys, an 11-year-old, was used as a lookout, claim reports.
Prosecutors say the girl was abused three times by a group of twelve boys between April 2 and April 6 during the Easter holidays (photo: the wooded area where the alleged attack took place)
Prosecutors arrested 10 suspects aged between 11 and 16 – all of whom were boys of North African or Somali descent, according to local media – and took them in for questioning, but new reports say up to a dozen boys were involved in the attack.
Citing ‘well-placed sources’, Belgian outlet Newspaper described the friend as a ‘loverboyboy’ type who deliberately allowed his friends to abuse his young partner.
‘Loverboy’ in this case is a term used to describe human traffickers who usually try to make their young victims fall in love with them.
But the boy denies “loaning” his girlfriend to the other teens, and his lawyer says “further investigation is needed to clarify the facts.”
According to Nieuwsblad, prosecutors uncovered “reprehensible behavior” by the suspects and “vengeful facts,” citing sources close to the investigation who said the alleged perpetrators showed “a total lack of sense of norms.”
The girl is said to have returned to the forest – a place popular with mountain bikers – where she was raped, tortured and abused twice by the gang of minors while under the “powerful” influence of her boyfriend, local media report.
The group took turns abusing the victim and everyone participated ‘to a greater or lesser extent’, according to Nieuwsblad.
The victim was allegedly raped by at least four of the boys and touched by the others who stood in a circle around them, while others filmed the attacks on their smartphones.
The footage and images of the alleged attack were also shared on social media, reportedly via Snapchat – an instant messaging app that allows users to easily share photos and videos. None of the group urged their friends to stop the abuse, sources said.
The investigation was conducted in great secrecy by the West Flanders public prosecutor’s office to avoid any chance of the victim’s relatives or members of the public discovering the identities of those involved.
Although the alleged attack took place in early April, the girl did not report for several days for fear of telling her parents and the police. It was not until April 25 that the police were able to arrest the suspects.
A total of ten boys were arrested. Six of the suspects have been placed in a closed facility, while the remaining four have been placed under house arrest.
They have now been interviewed – all at the same time and separately, so that researchers can compare all statements.
Citing its sources, Nieuwsblad said many of the boys’ statements were contradictory, with some suspects blaming each other.
Some of the six minors placed in the institution appeared in juvenile court on Wednesday afternoon. It was reported that two were released on conditions.
Het Nieuwsblad reported that four minors are now still in custody, including the 14-year-old friend who has reportedly been named the main suspect.
The main suspect – the girl’s 14-year-old boyfriend – is said to have taken the girl to the wooded Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders, where she was attacked by up to ten boys who allegedly shared images of the attack on social media
Prosecutors are now trying to determine the extent to which each suspect was involved in the attack on the 14-year-old girl, or whether there were any bystanders.
Tom Janssens of the Public Prosecution Service says that because of the age of everyone involved, little is said about their identities in public.
However, he confirmed that ten suspects had been identified and arrested, and that all were minors. “Because the perpetrators are so young, we do not release much information about their identity,” says Janssens The Brussels Times.
According to the friend’s lawyer, her client has disputed the events as reported. “My client also wants the truth to come to light and the case to be thoroughly investigated,” lawyer Nur Demirtas told local media.
‘He understands that he is now locked up, but this is also traumatizing for him. This is also very difficult for his parents, rich people who have tried to give their son a good upbringing. They don’t understand how this could happen,” Demirtas said.
‘It also strikes me that suspects of these types of crimes are getting younger. That is very disturbing.’
Lawyer Kelly De Caluwé, who is defending a 16-year-old suspect of Somali descent, said the minors “were all interrogated at the same time and investigators will now test the statements to find out the truth.”
“These are terrible facts,” she said. ‘The question is how it is possible that these children have lost all sense of norms. What should we do with this?
‘How are we going to solve this? It is a question that should be asked not only to the juvenile judge, but also to society as a whole. I have not experienced such facts in my fifteen years of career.’
Caluwé said that her client said things during interrogation that he did not mean and asked for a re-examination.
“I asked for a re-examination because, due to the language barrier, he said things that did not correspond to what he meant,” she said, according to Nieuwsblad.
‘To me he is not a rapist. Although he realizes that something very bad has happened. That realization comes gradually.’
‘To me he is not a rapist. Although he realizes that something very bad has happened. That realization comes gradually.’
Kortrijk Mayor Vincent Van Quickenborne said he was shocked when he first heard about the case, which he had known about behind closed doors ‘for some time’.
“The Public Prosecution Service does not allow me to say anything about the facts themselves, but I had been aware of the investigation for some time,” he says.
“These are worthless actions for which there are no words. I say that not only as a politician, but also as a father of three young children.’
The girl is said to have returned to the forest – a place popular with mountain bikers – where she was raped, tortured and abused twice by the gang of minors while under the “powerful” influence of her boyfriend, local media report.
The minimum criminal age in Belgium is 18, which means that the suspected sexual abusers have been sent before a juvenile judge and likely placed in a personal rehabilitation program in youth facilities.
But it is possible that the 16-year-old in question will be treated under adult criminal law, given the exceptional nature of the case.
The victim is now receiving specialist guidance after her ordeal.
In Belgium, it is possible to detain children from the age of 12 for extended periods if they are found guilty of rape and gang rape, and since 2022, perpetrators aged 16 and over who have committed such crimes can be tried as adults.
East Flemish Minister of Justice Zuhal Demir – who called for tightening legislation on juvenile crime – said parents of children who commit such crimes ‘must be held responsible’.
“You simply cannot tackle this type of violence with lower penalties,” she said, according to The Brussels Times.
‘Such perpetrators must be taken off the streets and their parents must be held accountable. Juvenile judges should make more and full use of the recent tightening of juvenile criminal law.’
As to why it probably took time for the 14-year-old girl to come forward after the early April incident, professor of forensic psychology Frédéric Declercq told De Morgen: ‘There is always under-reporting of sexual crimes, whether it concerns a gang rape or an individual case. It is known that victims usually feel more guilty than the perpetrators.’
‘In addition, there is a lot of shame in reporting crime. What also plays a role, for both female and male victims, is stigmatization. You are no longer who you always were. If you come out, you are a rape victim.”
A hearing will take place at the juvenile court on May 24 to determine what happens to the minor suspects.