Girl, 14, ‘gang-raped by up to 12 boys aged 11-16 over Easter holidays including 5 who attacked her after day at fair’
A TEENAGE girl, 14, has allegedly been gang-raped by up to 12 boys aged 11 to 16 over the Easter break.
Five of the suspects are said to have attacked the victim in the forest after her boyfriend lured her there following a day at a fair.
The child screamed at her attackers to “stop”, according to local media, as horrifying new details continue to emerge about the case that has shaken Belgium.
The girl was abused by the group of boys on three occasions between April 2 and April 6 over the holidays, prosecutors say.
The main suspect – the girl’s 14-year-old boyfriend – allegedly took her with him to a wooded area called Kabouterbos in West Flanders, Belgium at around 6pm on April 2 after they spent the day at a fairground.
Once there, the boyfriend is said to have raped his partner while the others watched on before he “loaned her out” to his friends to sexually abuse.
The chilling reports claim the youngest of the boys, an 11-year-old, was used as a lookout.
Prosecutors have arrested ten suspects aged between 11 and 16 – all reported by local outlets to be boys of North African or Somali descent.
The group were hauled in for interrogation, but new reports say up to a dozen boys were involved in the attack.
The interrogations revealed that the girl screamed “stop”when the teenage boys assaulted her, with one 14-year-old suspect saying that she “grimaced” and that he “saw she was in pain”, according to HLN.
Statements said the girl also appeared dizzy during the attack, turned pale and her eyelids seemed to close.
The boyfriend has been described as a “loverboy boy” type who deliberately allowed his friends to abuse his young partner claimed Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad citing “well placed sources”.
“Lover boy” in this case is a term used to describe human traffickers who typically operate by trying to make their young victims fall in love with them.
The boy denies that he “lent out” his girlfriend to the other teenagers, and his lawyer said that “further research is needed to clarify the facts”.
Nieuwsblad claimed prosecutors turned up “reprehensible behaviour” on the part of the suspects and “revenge-mongering facts” citing sources close to the investigation.
The sources reportedly said the alleged perpetrators showed “a complete lack of sense of norms”.
The girl is thought to have returned to the woodland – a spot popular with mountain bikers – where she was raped, tormented and abused by the gang of minors twice.
Local media report that it is believed she was under the “powerful” influence of her boyfriend.
The group took turns abusing the victim, and all 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 standing around them in a circle, while more of the boys filmed the attacks on their smartphones.
The footage and images of the alleged attack were shared on social media, reportedly over Snapchat – an instant messaging app that allows users to easily share pictures and videos.
The victim's ordeal
- April 2, 6 PM the girl’s 14-year-old boyfriend allegedly took her with him to a wooded area called Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders, Belgium
- Once there, the boyfriend is said to have raped his partner in front of the others before he “loaned her out” to his friends
- April 6 – The girl is thought to have returned to the forest two more times between the first reported rape and April 6 where she was allegedly raped, tormented and abused again by the gang of minors
- April 25 – the police were able to arrest the suspects
- Four more minors currently in custody – including the 14-year-old boyfriend
None of the group urged their friends to stop the abuse, sources said.
The investigation has been conducted in the utmost secrecy by the West Flanders prosecutor’s office to avoid any chance of family members of the victim or members of the public learning the identities of those involved.
Although the alleged attack took place in early April, the girl didn’t come forward for several days out of fear of telling her parents and the police.
It wasn’t until April 25 that the police were able to arrest the suspects.
In total, ten boys were detained. Six of the suspects were placed in a closed institution, while the other four were placed under house arrest.
They have since been questioned – all simultaneously and separately, so that investigators can compare all statements.
Citing its sources, Nieuwsblad said many of the statements given by the boys were contradictory, a number of the 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.
Nieuwsblad said that four more minors are now in custody – including the 14-year-old boyfriend who, it is understood, has been made the main suspect.
Prosecutors are now working to establish what extent each suspect was involved in the assault or if any were bystanders.
Tom Janssens of the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that on account of the age of all those involved, little is being said publicly on their identity.
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
He did confirm that ten suspects had been identified and arrested, and that all were minors.
Janssens told The Brussels Times: “Because the perpetrators are so young, we are not releasing much information about their identity.”
According to the boyfriend’s lawyer, her client has disputed the events as they have been reported.
Lawyer, Nur Demirtas, told local media: “My client also wants the truth to come to light and for the matter to be thoroughly investigated.
“He understands that he is now locked up, but this is also traumatising for him.
“This is also very difficult for his parents, wealthy people who have tried to give their son a good upbringing. They don’t understand how this could happen.”
He added: “It also strikes me that suspects of such crimes are becoming younger and younger. That is very disturbing.”
Lawyer Kelly De Caluwé, who is defending a 16-year-old suspect of Somali origin, said the minors had ‘all been interrogated simultaneously and the investigators will now test the statements to find out the truth’.
“These are horrible 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 yet experienced such facts in my fifteen-year career.”
Caluwé said her client said things he did not mean during the questioning and has asked for a re-examination.
“I asked for a re-examination because due to the language barrier he said things that did not match what he meant,” she said, according to Nieuwsblad.
“To me he is not a rapist. Although he realises that something very wrong has happened. That realisation comes gradually.’
‘To me he is not a rapist. Although he realises that something very wrong has happened. That realisation comes gradually.”
Kortrijk mayor Vincent Van Quickenborne said he was shocked when he first learned about the case that he has known about behind closed doors “for some time”.
“The public prosecutor’s office does not allow me to say anything about the facts themselves, but I had been aware of the investigation for some time,” he said.
“These are cra*** acts for which there are no words. I say that not only as a politician, but also as a father of 3 young children.”