Régina Louf

Regina Louf (born January 29, 1969), also known as witness X1 in the Dutroux case, is a Belgian author and victim of organised sexual abuse. She was one of the most prominent witnesses in the case around Marc Dutroux.

Alleged abuse Louf said that she had been sexually abused by family members since age four. Her parents are Georges and Christiane Louf. Her grandmother and mother also prostituted her out. Her grandmother, Cécile Bernaert, was the widow of the chief commissioner of police. She is alleged to have run two brothels during the time of the Second World War. Louf claims that her parents sold her to a man, Tony Van den Bogaert, as a child. He repeatedly took her to sex parties since age 11. Her grandmother and acquaintances of the family confirmed that Regina Louf had a sexual relationship with Tony at least since age 12.

According to Louf, Marc Dutroux would frequent these parties and provide the girls with drugs, as well as looking after them; his reward being allowed the girls for his pleasure as well. Louf claims that she met businessmen, politicians, police, and justice personnel at the parties. Police officer Rudi Hoskens said, "She gave us some details that made us think it's impossible to give without having been there at that place - the way the body was found at that time, and the way she described the person who was killed." Louf said, "It was highly organised. Big business. Blackmail. There was a lot of money involved."

Involvement in the Dutroux case Louf was one of ten victims that came forward when a Belgian judge, Jean-Marc Connerotte, filed an appeal in the Dutroux case and called for further victims to come forward. She was given the code name "witness X1". Louf was eventually not called in to testify. The new residing judge, Anne Thily, declared that she was a fantasist, as Louf named a number of elite from Belgian politics and business in her testimony.

Public outcry The testimony of Regina Louf on public television and the discarding of judge Jean-Marc Connerotte from the case because he attended a fundraising dinner for the victims families led to a "White March" being organised in Brussels. 300,000–400,000 Belgian citizens took part in the march and demanded justice for the victims in the Dutroux case and an end to the corruption in the justice system.

Psychological examination According to the psychologist Paul Igodt, who led a council of five psychiatrists to assess Louf on the order of the judiciary, she has dissociative identity disorder caused by severe and prolonged sexual abuse she suffered in her childhood. However, this does not make her testimony less credible and is a common long-term health consequence of severe early childhood abuse.

Private life Louf lives in Ghent with her husband and four children. She is the owner of a dog kennel and animal shelter.

Publications Silence, on tue des enfants ! (French) with a preface of Leon Schwartzenberg, Éditions Factue (18.09.2002), Zwijgen is voor daders: de getuigenis van X1 (Dutch) (1.09.1998) Uitgeverij Houtekiet,