Olmen –
Tommy Pasteels (52) from Burcht (Zwijndrecht), co-manager of the Pakawi Park zoo in Olmen (Balen), was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison, of which two years are effective.
He appeared in the Turnhout court in March. There he had to answer for sexual misconduct against eleven women. He was acquitted for the offenses against two women.
“We have the feeling that the court has looked at the case carefully,” responds Francis Mens, lawyer for several victims who filed civil proceedings.
© Robin Fasseur
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“That is a serious punishment. I think it is important to acknowledge that those facts happened and that those facts are believed. We hope that what the victims have initiated here will bring about a change in his behavior and such events will no longer occur.”
The court did not accept the Public Prosecution Service’s proposal for immediate arrest.