Flemish TV star Bart De Pauw was sentenced on Thursday to a six-month suspended prison sentence by the Mechelen court for assaulting five women. He also digitally harassed one woman, the court ruled on Thursday. According to the prosecutor, there were thirteen women who were harassed by De Pauw. The case was started four years ago by the #MeToo movement.
The women were all younger than him and often found themselves in a position of dependency. For example, they were actresses, a stylist and an intern. According to the prosecutor, thirteen women have become victims of De Pauw. A total of nine women had filed charges of stalking against De Pauw. He sent them many explicit messages or suddenly showed up at their door. Some of the allegations have been declared unfounded.
Also read: Bart De Pauw, from teddy bear to #MeToo defendant
According to the Flemish broadcaster VRT De Pauw’s lawyer said shortly after the verdict that he was “disappointed and disappointed”. It is still possible to appeal the ruling, but it is not yet clear whether one of the parties will do so. De Pauw could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison for the cases for which he was suspected.
Before 2017, De Pauw was one of the best-known and best-loved TV makers in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. He was “the teddy bear” of the public broadcaster VRT and, for example, came up with The mole, the television program that was taken over in the Netherlands under the name Who is the mole?. VRT immediately stopped the collaboration after the women’s testimonies. The actor, screenwriter and producer has had their own production house together with his wife since 2008, but those productions have been less popular since the case.
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