A Belgian court Monday turned down a request by notorious child sex killer Marc Dutroux for early release from prison to serve out the rest of his sentence at home under electronic surveillance. The ruling against Belgium's "most hated man" cited the risk he might offend again after being jailed for life in 2004 for the kidnap and rape between June 1995 and August 1996 of six young and teenage girls, four of whom died.

A Belgian court Monday turned down a request by notorious child sex killer Marc Dutroux for early release from prison to serve out the rest of his sentence at home under electronic surveillance. The ruling against Belgium's "most hated man," cited the risk he might offend again after being jailed for life in 2004 for the kidnap and rape between June 1995 and August 1996 of six young and teenage girls, four of whom died. bur/bmm/txw

* Decision due on Feb. 18 * Dutroux raped and murdered four girls * Sentenced in 1996 to life in prison BRUSSELS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Belgium's most notorious killer launched a bid for early release on Monday, despite little chance of getting parole. Marc Dutroux, who was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of six girls and the murder of four of them in the 1990s, put his case to judges in a closed-door hearing in Brussels.

Belgium's notorious serial paedophile killer Marc Dutroux asked a special court for early release Monday after serving 16 years of a life sentence for the kidnap, rape and gruesome murder of several young girls. The 56-year-old, the country's most reviled criminal, was escorted under heavy surveillance from a high-security prison to the central Brussels courthouse as a helicopter hovered overhead and 125 officers stood guard over the court building.