Accused ‘not a classic paedophile’

PSYCHIATRISTS say Marc Dutroux — dubbed the ‘Monster of Charleroi’ by the Belgian press — is less a paedophile than an icy-hearted predator with a murderous desire to control his victims.

Dutroux, 47, went on trial yesterday for a string of abductions, rapes and murders of girls leading up to his arrest in August 1996.

Four of the girls, including two eight-year-olds, were murdered. Two others were rescued from the cellar of a property belonging to the jobless electrician near the southern town of Charleroi.