Dutroux gets life in jail

2004-06-22 16:44

Arlon, Belgium - Belgium's most reviled criminal, Marc Dutroux, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for a spate of child kidnappings, rapes and murders that horrified the nation and drew international notoriety.

In a 50-page decision read aloud by Judge Stephane Goux, Dutroux was described as "a danger to society."

The sentencing brought closure to a 3 month trial and a case that haunted Belgium for nearly a decade, leading to judicial and police reforms and crackdowns on child sex crimes.

Dutroux, 47, was convicted last Thursday of kidnapping, raping and killing young girls in 1995-96. He kept victims locked in a secret dungeon hidden in his basement.

Dutroux's ex-wife Michelle Martin, 44, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison for kidnapping and rape.

While Michel Lelievre, 33, Dutroux's accomplice, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping and drug-dealing.

His sentencing, determined jointly by a 12-member jury and three-judge panel, was carried live on Belgian television with the presiding judge reading aloud the entire 50-page verdict of more than 200 counts against Dutroux and three co-defendants.

In Belgium, no appeal of a jury verdict is possible, except on procedural grounds. In that case, the supreme court reviews the verdict.

Many Belgians remain disturbed by Dutroux's claim that he was not the "lone predator" portrayed by the prosecution, but the courier for a paedophile network run by Michel Nihoul.

The jury in the Dutroux trial on Thursday acquitted Nihoul of any involvement in the abductions of the six girls.

- AFP