BRUSSELS — Brussels Court sentenced on Friday a 47-year-old man to 10 years jail for sexually abusing 200 homeless boys in Thailand.

The accused, identified only as Elmar U., of Wemmel, was convicted of raping boys, photographing the abuse and selling the pornographic material.

Detained on 24 October 2004, U. was also ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment for 10 years after the completion of his jail term, newspaper ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ reported.

In Belgium, a crime of child abuse allows authorities to order the culprit to remain at the disposal of the judiciary for an extra period of time after their release.

In addition to the jail term and the compulsory treatment, U. was ordered to pay EUR 2,000 in damages to Child Focus, the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children.

The public prosecutor demanded the court impose on the accused the long-term compulsory psychiatric treatment and seven years jail.

U. confessed to the abuse of more than 200 boys aged 12 and 13. Police also found in his a large quantity of pornographic material U. had downloaded from the internet.

He also made a large number of photos of the sex abuse and developed them in his own dark room.

U. shared his victims with a Finnish man who kept in his diary the names of 445 boys he had abused in Thailand.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news