Beyond the Dutroux Affair The reality of protected child abuse ... - Soup

Michel Nihoul,
Dutroux's
apparent link to
the upper
echelons of the
network. Found
guilty by the
jury, before it
was overruled
by the presiding
judges (31).
Nihoul is the
ultimate
example of an
unscrupulous
villain, but for
some reason he
has enjoyed the
protection of
many
magistrates and
media outlets.
small hips. He gave me a description of the girl that we
were looking for. [One day] I asked him why they [An and
Eefje] were still with him even though he claimed he had
an order. He told me that the people who had placed the
order had come, but that they weren't interested in
them... Dutroux explained me that he conditioned the
girls to be obedient and submissive when they arrived at
customers..." (28)
"I would like to reveal other things about Jean-Michel
Nihoul, but I don't want that these testimonies are taken
up in the dossier. As I said, I fear for my life and those
around me. I remind you that Nihoul told me the
following: 'if you cross me, I will destroy you'. With those
words he made it known to me that he would kill me or
have me killed." (29)
Although convicted for financial fraud, drug- and human
trafficking due to an overwhelming amount of evidence
(30), Nihoul ultimately was acquitted from charges that
he was involved in the kidnapping and murder of any of
Dutroux's girls. However, to anyone who has taken an in
depth look into
the case, it's clear that a whole lot of leads had to be ignored and
discarded before this conclusion could be reached (32), raising two
important questions: How, and why?
Victim-witnesses come forward
Probably the most important (and underreported) thing that happened in
the aftermath of the Dutroux affair was that a number of victims from
pedophile networks felt that this was their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to testify about what they had experienced. Until Connerotte and Bourlet
were able to arrest Dutroux and Nihoul, and retrieve two missing girls,