The Public Prosecution Service demands 4 years of imprisonment, of which 6 months are conditional with a probation period of 5 years, against a 35-year-old suspect from Arnhem. He is suspected of sexually abusing his then-stepdaughter during the period from January to July 2024. The girl was 5 years old at the time, later 6 years old. In addition, the Public Prosecution Service suspects the defendant of producing, distributing, and possessing child pornography and of abusing sexual images of an adult. The latter concerns secretly filming his then-partner and distributing this material.
“It is shocking how he led a normal life, how he was a beloved teacher and a beloved person but also had another side. A dark, criminal, perverse side,” stated the prosecutor in the Arnhem court. “The fact that he was a primary school teacher makes it even more reprehensible that he repeatedly abused a small girl and also made child pornography,” she argued.
The case began rolling after reports were made from America that child pornography was uploaded and shared on a platform in May/June 2024. Investigations revealed that the suspect was the one who did this. On October 7, 2024, the suspect was arrested. Investigations of his data carriers revealed, among other things, that the suspect filmed the abuse of his stepdaughter and that he distributed those images. He abused the girl while she was sleeping and defenseless. Furthermore, it was found that the suspect had possessed child pornography since 2005. In total, the police found nearly 1800 child pornographic images. These mainly consisted of photos but also videos. The suspect confessed to all the alleged facts.
The prosecutor holds the suspects abuse against him severely. She argued that it involves repeated, extensive abuse that took place in the girls own safe environment, or at least what she and her loved ones thought was a safe environment. “The suspect has inflicted suffering on the victim that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.” The suspect also possessed child pornography of other unknown minors. Children are indeed abused to create child pornographic images. The world behind this is horrific and the suspect partly sustains it.
Special Conditions
The Public Prosecution Service believes, in line with the advice of experts, that the suspect must undergo mandatory treatment. The prosecutor also requests the court to impose this treatment as a special condition for the conditional part of the prison sentence. She has also asked the court for an extra long probation period to be linked to the conditional prison sentence. This way, there will be longer control over the conditions that the suspect must adhere to after detention, and the chance of recidivism is minimized. Finally, the prosecutor also asked the court to impose a professional ban on the suspect regarding working as a teacher of minors for a duration of five years, a contact ban with his stepchildren, and a location ban for all of Arnhem.
The court will rule in two weeks.