Prosecutor again demands up to 10 years in prison on appeal against men who ran boy brothel
Utrecht - In the appeal against Romeo A., the Public Prosecutor (OM) is demanding ten years in prison for running a boys' brothel in Utrecht. Eight years in prison is demanded against his companion Nico L.. The public prosecutor also wants both men to receive tbs with compulsory treatment.
The pair were previously sentenced to six years in prison and tbs with compulsory treatment for committing fornication and recruiting vulnerable, sometimes underage boys to incite them to prostitution. They did this from their home in the Overvecht district of Utrecht.
Trial date
The men sought contact with their victims through a chat site. Chat conversations were followed by a physical appointment at the men's home, a so-called trial date. In this way the men wanted to see whether a boy was suitable for prostitution, whether he could deal well with clients, and whether he was capable of performing sexual acts on men. L. then had sex with the victim, while A. watched.
Meanwhile, photos and videos were taken and a profile was created for them on the website Boys4U. The victims received their clients at the men's homes or they were brought to the clients by the suspects. Chat conversations between the suspects show that they also had regular contact among themselves about offering the boys. Almost all the victims state that for a sex date they had to ask for 150 euros. Of that amount, they had to hand over 20 percent to the suspects.
Advice and guidance
Their activities came to light through tips received by the municipality and police in late 2017 and early 2018. The municipality had one of the flats in Overvecht observed and found indications on websites that an illegal prostitution business was located there. A search then found a laptop that showed the suspects were also employing minors.
Former DJ Romeo A., who now calls himself Hans, previously denied having sex with minors. He maintained that he only helped the young men with the necessary advice and guidance. The lawyers of both suspects already asked for acquittal in the trial. The prosecution had also demanded 10 and eight years in that case. After the conviction, they went into appeal.
The judge will rule on the case on July 14.
