Probe launched into threats against released accomplice of serial paedophile Dutroux

Probe launched into threats against released accomplice of serial paedophile Dutroux
Michel Lelièvre in court. Credit: © Belga

An investigation has been launched into threats made on social media against Michel Lelièvre, the recently released accomplice of serial paedophile and killer Marc Dutroux.

Over 700 people joined an anonymous Facebook group called "Hunt for Michel Lelièvre in Brussels," which has since been taken offline, La Libre reports.

The investigation into incitement to violence and threats comes after Lelièvre was attacked in his home in Brussels just weeks after being released under a series of conditions at the start of December.

Two years ahead of the end of his 25-year sentence, a Brussels court ruled that Dutroux's former henchman could be conditionally released but barred him from settling down in a number of different locations.

Following the attack on 18 December, Lelièvre moved out of Brussels to settle down in a small municipality in the Walloon Brabant.

While some Belgian media reported that he had settled in La Hulpe, the Brussels public prosecutor said this was not the case, according to HLN.

News of Lelièvre's conditional release sparked outrage, with protests march organised against his release in Brussels.

Lelièvre was found guilty of torturing and imprisoning four girls between 1995 and 1996, two of whom died, and he was convicted to 25 years in prison.

At the end of October, a Brussels court ruled in favour of a request by Dutroux's lawyers to have the infamous paedophile's mental state must be reevaluated in preparation for a request for his conditional release.

Gabriela Galindo

The Brussels Times


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