The minors who extorted money from gays in the area of Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands, apparently did so to dozens of victims. Five victims lodged complaints by the police, but according to the local branch of the gay interest organization COC, many of the victims don't dare go to the police.
According to Peter Verhaegh, chairman of the COC in Bergen op Zoom, the victims tried to contact minor boys on the internet. Since that's criminal, many victims are reluctant to lodge complaints, he said Friday.
Verhaegh says that anonymous reports show that the Moroccan perpetrators had victims from all over the Netherlands and Belgium. Dozens were victimized.
The men contacted the three 16-year-olds via chat-sites. Two of them are currently in custody. In the area of Bergen op Zoom they were then confronted with the printouts of the chats with the minors and threatened that those would be handed over to the police.
The victims were then forced to draw out money and in some cases hand over their watches and phones too. In some cases they lost 750 euro.
Source: Trouw (Dutch)
