A 24-year-old man is suspected of pushing hundreds of girls into sending him nudes, which he then used to blackmail them.
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service calls this their largest investigation into online abuse of minors to date.
Gianni de W.
The prosecutor tells RTL Nieuws that the suspect is named Gianni de W., from a small village near Breda called Etten-Leur.
De W. would make contact with young girls online, on platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram, where he used fake usernames like “Bryan.snapx” or “Bryansnelgeld” (Bryan quick money). He would then offer them money in exchange for nude photos.
Once received, he then threatened to publish the photos online if the girls didn’t continue to send footage of themselves.
“He has made the lives of his victims hell,” says the prosecutor.
Mostly underaged girls
The police suspect that most of the girls targeted by Gianni de W. were minors living across the Netherlands. The youngest victim was only 13 years old.
So far, eight girls have filed official complaints about the suspect, but the actual number of victims is much larger.
The investigation has uncovered around 150 folders with different girls’ names on De W.’s computers, containing thousands of nude images.
The suspect allegedly even asked one of the girls to film herself having sex with her boyfriend, and then send it to him.
Detained
The investigation into Gianni de W. is far from over, and a large number of girls have yet to be tracked down.
The suspect was detained on October 11 2022 and has been in custody ever since. His next pre-trial hearing will take place on April 11.
The police urge everyone that recognizes the suspects’ username, or line of action to come forward by contacting their local police.
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