Former Dutch ‘The Voice’ coach sentenced to two years in prison for rape | New Straits Times

THE HAGUE: A Dutch court sentenced a former coach of the talent show “The Voice of Holland” to two years in prison for rape on Friday. The case was a major issue and shook the country.

Ali B., 42, was found guilty of raping a woman named “Naomi” during a writer’s room meeting in 2018 – charges he denies.

The rapper, one of several Dutch The Voice stars accused of sexual misconduct, will appeal the verdict, his lawyer told public media outlet NOS.

The 2022 scandal was the first #MeToo wave to rock the progressive Netherlands, which has since been rocked by several more cases of sexual abuse.

Ali B. was also charged in another case after a candidate on “The Voice” accused him of violently groping her, touching her genitals and performing sexual acts on her.

While prosecutors found the woman’s allegations credible, a Dutch court eventually dropped the charges due to lack of evidence.

The Dutch star had previously been convicted of attempted rape of Dutch artist Ellen ten Damme in 2014 during a stay in Morocco, where the two were recording a song for a television show.

“Through his actions, Ali B. significantly impaired the physical integrity of the victims,” the verdict states.

“He was guided by his own sexual needs without considering the will of the victims or the impact of his behavior on them.”

The court emphasized the “courage” of the victims given the artist’s public fame.

A series of allegations of sexual abuse have cast a shadow over the first version of a show whose basic premise – coaches on swivel chairs select contestants after listening to them sing “blindly” – has been sold to 150 countries.

The allegations raised questions about how program creator and reality TV king John de Mol handled the scandal.

De Mol, who also created the reality show Big Brother, admitted that he had already known about an allegation of inappropriate messages by the bandleader of The Voice of Holland in 2019, but had done nothing. A case against the Dutch tycoon was dropped.

The show was suspended by broadcaster RTL in 2022.–AFP