Antwerp Mayor closes hotel used by teenage prostitutes
The Mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) has closed down a hotel that was being used by under-age teenage prostitutes. According to a report in Friday’s edition of the daily ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ that the manager of the hotel has been ordered to take measures to ensure that under-age prostitutes are no longer able to use it to service their customers.
The hotel on Antwerp’s Southside was already known to police. In 2017 a crime report was drafted concerning a case of the rape of a minor at the hotel. In October the hotel came onto the police’s radar again after it emerged that an underage girl had checked into a room with three adult men, possibly pimps.
She is reported to have been visited by several clients every day. The manager never checked the identity or the age of the girl.
The owner of the hotel says that the manager has since been sacked and replaced. However, he was unable to say what measures have been taken in the meantime to ensure age and identity checks are carried out. As a result Mayor De Wever has ordered that the hotel close for a month to allow the owner to take the necessary measures. It is the first time that a hotel in Antwerp has been close by the Mayor for this reason.