Images depicting the sexual abuse of minors were reportedly found in the prison cell of Marc Dutroux, the infamous convicted Belgian paedophile and serial killer.
Prosecutors have confirmed the launch of an investigation after reports of this surfaced in the media.
The discovery occurred during a routine search of Nivelles Prison in Walloon Brabant on July 31, 2024, where Dutroux, now 69, is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement.
Authorities seized four envelopes containing approximately 200 pornographic photographs, around half of which involved naked underage girls and explicit child sexual abuse material.
The probe was initiated following a tip-off to prison management suggesting Dutroux possessed a mobile phone and had accessed illicit images.
While no device was recovered during the search, the envelopes were uncovered, prompting the Walloon Brabant public prosecutor’s office to open a formal inquiry into possession of child sexual abuse material.
It is unclear how Dutroux was able to obtain pictures in solitary confinement. According to weekly magazine Humo on February 23, his only contact with the outside world is his lawyer.
During questioning, Dutroux claimed he had found the photographs after a walk in the courtyard, in an envelope left on his bed “to harass me”. Dutroux says he experiences daily harassment from fellow inmates.
If this were the case, though, he could have reported it to the prison direction.
According to the prosecutor, there might have been co-operation with others, such as a corrupt prison guard or a fellow detainee.
Dutroux’s case has long haunted Belgium. Convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and murdering four young girls while imprisoning and abusing two others in the 1990s, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
A new conviction on the possession of child porn would not make much difference as he is one of the few people who in effect will sit out his life-long sentence in the Belgian prison system.
His crimes, which included producing child pornography videos, sparked nationwide outrage and led to sweeping reforms in the Belgian justice system after revelations of investigative failures.
Humo first reported the findings, detailing the scale of the material discovered in Dutroux’s cell.
Prosecutors have not yet disclosed further details on the origin of the images or any potential charges and the investigation remains ongoing.
They did, though, express discontent with the leak to the media, saying that it was not a good thing to present incomplete information to the public.
The investigative judge also added the most resent psychiatric report into Dutroux, from 2020, to the investigation. This report confirmed he still is regarded as a dangerous psychopath, with an “antisocial personality, narcissistic and perverse traits, and without a shred of empathy”.
His lawyer refused to comment as long as the investigation is ongoing and was not able to see the entire dossier.
