A man from Verviers has been given a 40-month suspended prison sentence by the Verviers Criminal Court after he was caught with child pornography images and upskirting (taking photos under women’s skirts) in public.
The investigation began with a voyeurism complaint lodged in the city of Eupen at the local swimming pool by a young girl. As a result, the man’s mobile phone was seized.
No photos were found of the young victim in Eupen, but other images of child pornography were discovered. The defendant was also accused of upskirting in a supermarket in Aywaille on 28 August 2022.
At a previous hearing in December 2022, the man admitted some of the charges but denied others. “I had been drinking. I have no memory of that day. The police showed me CCTV footage. That’s me, but I don’t know what happened”, he explained.
The prosecution then retraced the defendant’s steps through the shelves. It showed him upskirting women and approaching children.
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The defence challenged some of the charges, arguing that there was no evidence of physical contact in the shop.
As for the images, the defence considered that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the defendant was holding them for sexual purposes. The lawyer asked that his client be acquitted.
This line of defence was not accepted by the court. The court's sentence was harsher that the prosecutor, who was seeking a 36-month prison sentence.
