Ten years in prison demanded against former bank manager for years of raping his wife

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Sobbing and out of breath, daughter leaves the courtroom: the first hearing of a woman in her fifties who abused a woman for years is over

Closed doors

“Black Brugstraat”, or the address of the Hasselt prison, the fifty-something stammered when the judge asked for his address. It was all we heard from him. Lawyer Luk Delbrouck asked on behalf of the wife and daughter for the hearing to take place behind closed doors. He referred, among other things, to privacy, public morals and serenity. The lawyer was heard by the opposing party, the public prosecutor’s office and the court. The facts for which the dismissed employee of a financial institution is being tried are not minor. He allegedly drugged and raped his wife for almost 9 years. The case is reminiscent of that of the Frenchman Dominique Pelicot, except that he also allowed other men to rape his sedated wife. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year.

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It all started with a cup of tea that the husband served his wife. Mixed with all kinds of anesthetics. The man managed to obtain this through prescriptions obtained or with the help of pharmacist friends. He could then indulge his lust on the defenseless woman with all kinds of attributes. The victim could not remember anything the next day. Her memory seemed to have been erased and she felt drowsy. Gradually she noticed that this was not the case when her husband was out in the evening, for example to pursue his hobbies. Strangely enough, when she made her own tea, nothing happened.

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Court psychiatrist about Limburg Pelicot: “Extremely rare sexual deviant behavior”

A visit to the doctor revealed that there were all kinds of traces of sleeping pills and other medications in her urine. All from pills that she did not take herself, but were known to her husband. When she confronted him with the results, he slowly but surely changed tack. Little by little he began to confess. “I did it so that you would sleep better,” was an explanation that his wife could not laugh at. The woman showed him at the door after which the accused moved to a hotel. It was there that investigators arrested him in February.

Tens of thousands of videos

The victim, who had heard the divorce pronounced, had already come across all kinds of sex paraphernalia in her home that she did not know existed. Denying the facts made no sense for the Zonhoven resident. During their investigation, investigators found tens of thousands of videos of the horror. The man had put the videos in folders on his laptop and given them names, finding inspiration in videos on porn sites. On Friday at his trial, the Zonhove native was told that the public prosecutor’s office is demanding a prison sentence of ten years against him. “My clients are relieved that the process is finally over,” says Luk Delbrouck. The sentencing is scheduled for January 9.