A man suspected of sexually abusing at least 30 teenagers and young women online has been jailed for 6.5 years by judges in Breda, to be followed by psychiatric treatment.

Gianni de W, who is 25, had faced seven years for sextortion over a period of eight years. 

The court said De W had put his own needs first and ignored the suffering that he had caused his victims, many of whom were minors at the time. The victims still feel shame, sadness and anger, the court said. “You have damaged many girls enormously.”

The public prosecution department said last year De W, from Etten-Leur, blackmailed more than 170 girls who had sent him nude photos of themselves. They had managed to trace the identities of 130, 93 of whom were under the age of 18. The youngest known victim was just 13.

Investigators found 150 files with different girls’ names on De W’s computer, some of which contained thousands of photos of the same girl. 

The man, who used variants on the name Bryan in his contacts, got in touch with the girls via social media and offered them cash in return for nude photos. He then threatened to place the images online unless they sent him more pictures.

De W was also ordered to pay his victims, some of whom were in court to hear the verdict, damages totalling €91,000. Some 20 of the 30 victims had asked the court to award them damages.