'Psychopath' Dutroux sentenced to life in prison

Belgium's most reviled criminal, Marc Dutroux, was sentenced today to life in prison for a spate of child kidnappings, rapes and murders that horrified the nation and drew international notoriety.

Belgium's most reviled criminal, Marc Dutroux, was sentenced today to life in prison for a spate of child kidnappings, rapes and murders that horrified the nation and drew international notoriety.

In verdicts broadcast live on national television, Judge Stephane Goux said he hoped the sentencing would offer Dutroux's victims a sense of closure.

"I hope your future will be better now, and that you move on," Goux said after reading a 50-page decision of more than 200 counts against Dutroux and three co-defendants, which listed the torture and sexual acts committed against minors.

Dutroux, 47, was convicted last week of abducting, imprisoning and raping six girls. He was also found guilty of murdering two of the girls, 17-year-old An Marchal and 19-year-old Eefje Lambrecks, as well as an accomplice, Bernard Weinstein. Two other girls starved to death while being held in a hidden dungeon in his basement.

Dutroux was handed a life sentence with no chance of parole because of "the danger he represents to society", Goux said.

His ex-wife, Michelle Martin, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. She was held responsible for the deaths of the two 8-year-olds, who starved to death while Dutroux was serving a short jail sentence for car theft. Martin testified she was too afraid to enter the basement to feed them.

An accomplice, Michel Lelievre, was sentenced to 25 years behind bars. He was convicted of complicity in the kidnappings and other charges.

The final co-defendant, Michel Nihoul, received a 5-year term for his part in a gang that smuggled drugs and people into Belgium.

The sentencing ended a 3 1/2-month trial in a case that haunted Belgium for nearly a decade, leading to judicial and police reforms and crackdowns on child sex crimes.

The sentence was determined jointly by a 12-member jury and three-judge panel.

In Belgium, jury verdicts cannot be appealed, except on procedural grounds. In that case, the supreme court reviews the verdict.