8 years for paedophile hockey coach
The Criminal Court in Leuven has sentenced a 40-year-old man to 8 years imprisonment after having convicted him of the rape of a number of young boys. The man abused his position as a coach at an indoor hockey club in Leuven (Flemish Brabant) to rape several male minors.
He was found guilty of the rape of at least four young hockey players, all of whom minors. The rapes took place during a six-year period between 2010 and 2016. During this time he worked as a coach at the hockey club and became the club’s president in 2014.
Each of the man’s victims have been awarded more than 34,000 euro in compensation.
During the court case the prosecution told of how the coach abused his position of power. Boys that failed to accept his advances were forced to leave the club or dropped from the first team.
The Coach also started a relationship with the club’s only female member as a means of getting access to her teenage son. Detectives found video footage on the man’s computer of him engaging in oral sex with a 16-year-old hockey player from the club.