Robbie Van Der Plancken was a Belgian national who began as a child prostitute working for [[Lothar Glandorf]] and later "graduated to become an exploiter himself" in the European child trafficking and pornography network. He emerged as a central figure connecting multiple major investigations during the 1990s, including the [[Marc Dutroux]] case and the [[Apollo Bulletin Board Service]]. Van Der Plancken operated across various European countries, maintaining connections to key figures in the international pedophile network while establishing himself as both a victim turned perpetrator and a crucial witness to systemic child exploitation operations spanning [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], and [[Italy]].[^1] Van Der Plancken's criminal activities began under the tutelage of Lothar Glandorf, who operated a sophisticated child trafficking operation targeting vulnerable boys from [[Berlin]]. His progression from victim to perpetrator exemplified the cycle of abuse within these networks, where former victims often became recruiters and abusers themselves. This pattern was common in the European child trafficking scene, where established networks leveraged the trauma and dependency of their victims to ensure continued participation and silence. His position within multiple overlapping networks made him a valuable asset for trafficking operations while simultaneously making him a target for both law enforcement and rival criminal elements seeking to eliminate potential witnesses.[^1] The Zandvoort network investigation in 1998 revealed Van Der Plancken as "a central figure" in what was then "the world's largest online distributor of sadomasochist child pornography, served from a website called [[Apollo Bulletin Board Service]] hosted in the Dutch seaside resort town of Zandvoort." This operation represented a significant evolution in child exploitation, moving from physical distribution to digital platforms that could reach global audiences while maintaining relative anonymity for the operators.[^1] ### Key Criminal Activities and Major Cases Van Der Plancken admitted to helping Lothar Glandorf transport [[Manuel Schadwald]] from Berlin to Rotterdam, then stated in an unaired interview with Dutch reporters that "the boy had then been sold to [[Warwick Spinks]] in Amsterdam." Warwick Spinks' name was later found in an address book belonging to Robbie Van Der Plancken, confirming the business relationship between these key figures in the European child exploitation scene.[^1] The murder investigation of [[Gerrit-Jan Ulrich]] in June 1998 further exposed Van Der Plancken's criminal connections. Ulrich, a 49-year-old German computer technician who owned a computer store called [[Cube Hardware]], was found "shot multiple times" in an Italian forest. Van Der Plancken was arrested by Italian police as a suspect in this murder, which occurred shortly after Ulrich had been observed during a television interview with Van Der Plancken conducted by Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. The timing of Ulrich's death, coming just days after his exposure during the investigation, suggested a possible connection to efforts to silence witnesses or eliminate loose ends within the trafficking network.[^1] Van Der Plancken maintained regular presence at the [[G-Force nightclub]] in [[Amsterdam]], which was owned by American [[John Edward Mullaney]] and had connections to the [[Spartacus International]] network. This nightclub served as a meeting point for various figures in the European pedophile and trafficking scene, including Marc Dutroux. The establishment provided a legitimate business front for criminal networking, allowing traffickers, pornographers, and their associates to coordinate operations while maintaining plausible deniability. Van Der Plancken's regular attendance at this venue demonstrated his integration into the broader European criminal ecosystem that facilitated child exploitation across multiple countries and jurisdictions.[^1] ### Legal Consequences and Potential Witness Testimony Following his arrest for the murder of Gerrit-Jan Ulrich, Van Der Plancken faced imprisonment in [[Italy]] while potentially possessing explosive information about broader criminal networks. His father made dramatic statements to the media, claiming: "If Robby spoke, the Dutroux case wouldn't be anything against it." This statement suggested that Van Der Plancken possessed knowledge that could significantly impact one of Europe's most notorious child abuse and murder cases, potentially implicating higher-level figures or revealing connections between seemingly disparate criminal operations. The father further alleged that "There is a snuff video in which a boy from Berlin dies. I saw it and recognized my son as the actor in it," suggesting Van Der Plancken's possible involvement in the production of extreme child abuse material.[^1] German authorities reported that "the alleged child molester Robby van der Plancken, who is imprisoned in Italy because he is said to have shot his partner Gerrit Jan Ulrich, can be seen in at least five Gero films." This connection to Gero-Video, a known producer of child pornography, further established Van Der Plancken's role in the commercial exploitation of children across multiple production and distribution networks. The international scope of these operations—spanning Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Italy—demonstrated the challenges faced by law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting cross-border criminal enterprises that exploited jurisdictional boundaries and legal differences between countries.[^1] In February 2001, investigators tracked down a transvestite in [[Amsterdam]] named Robert Jan Warmerdam, who "claimed to have known not only Robbie Van Der Plancken, but also Marc Dutroux." [^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.