Guard convicted of Dutroux jail photos

21 June 2006

BRUSSELS — The prison guard accused of taking photos of paedophile Marc Dutroux in Aarlen prison was convicted on Wednesday of passive corruption and breaching privacy laws.

But the court imposed a suspended three-year jail term on Hugo Jamotte, news agency Belga reported.

During the previous hearing on 24 May, the public prosecutor had demanded a two-year suspended jail term.

Besides the minimum sentence, the prosecution also demanded a severe fine, requesting also that the suspect be banned from re-entering into the public service.

The guard has always denied taking the photos of Dutroux, photos that were sold to the Francophone newspaper ‘La Libre’ after being taken in October 2004.

The court noted that Jamotte was not seen on any of the photos, while the other guard was visible in two of the photos.

At that the time the photos were taken, only two guards were in the vicinity of Dutroux.

Another colleague could not have taken the photos without attracting the attention of both Dutroux and his two wardens.

The court also ruled that the suspect had used his mobile phone to negotiate the sale of the photos, despite the fact Jamotte claimed his phone had been stolen prior to the incident.

Subject: Belgian news