Seventeen years in prison for beating to death a man he suspected of sexually abusing his six-year-old stepson. It is the sentence that transformed Gregory Lenoci into the protagonist of one of the most discussed judicial cases in Belgium. The verdict arrived on August 20, 2026 from the Namur court: Lenoci was found guilty of attempted premeditated murder.
A punishment that has provoked protests, political reactions and a discussion that goes far beyond the single trial. Because the victim of the attack was not just any neighbor. The man, identified as Marc P., had already been convicted of sexual crimes against a child and would have to comply with the ban on associating with minors. Yet several children from the neighborhood continued to go to his house.
The child’s story and the “secret game”
The story begins in Jambes, in the Namur area, in July 2025. Lenoci’s stepson, six years old, attended Marc P.’s house together with other children, where a sort of playroom had been set up. At a certain point the little boy tells his family about the existence of a “secret game”.
According to what was reported during the investigation, the child was blindfolded and made to put some things in his mouth. The story immediately arouses the family’s suspicions. On July 23, Lenoci then went to the police and filed a complaint. A specialist hearing for the child is scheduled.
Marc P. already had a 2020 sentence of 37 months in prison, suspended, for attempted sexual assault and other sexual acts against a child under ten years old. Among the conditions he would have had to respect was the ban on associating with minors.
Not only that. About a month before the events, another parent had already reported Marc P. for alleged abuse of a seven-year-old girl. It is one of the most controversial aspects of the whole affair: if the man had already been convicted and there had been a new report, why did he continue to receive children in his home? In fact, checks have been launched on the behavior of the authorities.
The day after the complaint Lenoci decides to act alone
Lenoci, however, does not wait for the outcome of the investigations. On July 24, 2025, the day after the report to the police, he invited Marc P. to his home on the pretext of clarifying what had happened. According to the version provided by Lenoci himself, during the confrontation the neighbor admitted the sexual nature of the “secret game”. However, this is the reconstruction of the accused: there is no recorded confession of Marc P. which confirms that circumstance.
At that point Lenoci attacks him. The beating is very violent. The man is hit repeatedly and part of the attack is also filmed with a telephone. When rescuers arrive they find Marc P. unconscious and seriously injured. The consequences are devastating: almost a year later the man is in a semi-vegetative state, unable to communicate, move independently and feed himself without assistance.
After the attack Lenoci flees. He remained untraceable for five days, before spontaneously handing himself over to the police.
Because the judges are talking about attempted premeditated murder
The defense tried to show that Lenoci did not want to kill the neighbor and that he had acted out of anger after finding out what he believed had happened to the child. However, the court rejected this reconstruction.
According to the judges, the violence of the blows, the areas of the body targeted and the manner of the attack demonstrate the intention to cause potentially deadly consequences. Above all, the court recognized premeditation. In fact, Lenoci would not have met Marc P. by chance: he would have been the one to invite him to his home, organizing the confrontation without notifying the police to whom he had just filed a complaint.
The trial also considered some statements that Lenoci would have made before the attack and the fact that part of the violence had been filmed. His judicial record also weighs on the sentence, including a previous conviction for acts of violence.
Had the neighbor really abused the child?
While it is established that Marc P. had previously been convicted of sexual crimes against a minor, it is not judicially established that he abused Lenoci’s stepson. The investigation into that child encountered enormous difficulties just after the beating: Marc P.’s neurological condition prevented investigators from questioning him.
In December 2025 the public prosecutor had also requested a non-prosecution due to insufficient evidence. Dozens of photographs of children were allegedly found on the man’s phone, but this element was not considered sufficient, in itself, to demonstrate the reported abuse.
Questions about the behavior of the authorities
Comité P, the Belgian body responsible for monitoring the work of the police force, has started checks on the management of previous reports. The Liège prosecutor’s office has also opened a file to evaluate any omissions. The president of the Belgian Reform Movement Georges-Louis Bouchez defined the sentence imposed on Lenoci as disproportionate, while reiterating that no one can replace justice.
The defense has already announced an appeal. The case, therefore, is far from closed.