A man from Antwerp, 35, received a three-year suspended prison sentence for rape after he faked making a payment to six sex workers for their services, the Antwerp Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday.
The man was prosecuted for seven counts of rape committed between October 2024 and March 2025. In six of the seven cases, the sex workers involved had asked to be paid in advance.
The man pretended to pay them via his banking app, but only showed an unsigned bank transfer or a screenshot of a previous, successful payment.
The sex workers realised that the money had not been credited to their accounts, only later, after the sexual encounters. The man has argued that the sexual relations were consensual. However, the court ruled that his acts constituted rape.
"The court finds that the sex workers would not have consented to the sexual relations without prior payment and that the man was aware of this. According to the court, presenting a false proof of payment constitutes deceit, meaning that there was no valid consent on the part of the sex workers," said the court's press officer, Els De Brauwer.
More so, falsifying the proof of payment also constitutes fraud, which means that there was no valid consent on that basis. "The fact that the victims are sex workers makes no difference in this respect, according to the court. Even if someone has sex to earn money, valid consent must still be present," De Brauwer said.
The man was acquitted of one count. In that case, he had not shown the sex worker a falsified proof of payment, but had promised to pay her after the sexual encounter, which he then failed to do. According to the court, this does not constitute deceit or fraud.
The man committed the offences while under the influence of cocaine, but has since undergone treatment for his addiction, which the court has taken into account. The sentence is fully suspended, but under certain conditions, such as regular drug testing.
If he fails to comply with these conditions, the sentence may be enforced. At first instance, he had been given an effective prison sentence of five years last summer.
