It has been a very frightening time for the many minor victims in this case. They felt stupid, were under pressure, and saw no way out at the time. They did not dare to tell anyone out of shame and fear. The Public Prosecution Service today demanded 42 months imprisonment, of which 6 months conditional. This is against a 33-year-old man from Ridderkerk, suspected of online sexual abuse of 20 girls, mostly minors.
The case started in 2023, when the mother of one of the victims filed a report. The investigation showed that the suspect was guilty for more than a year of sextortion of young, mostly minor girls. Sextortion means that someone obtains sexual images and blackmails the victims to provide more.
Prosecution suspects him of 8 offenses: manufacturing and possession of child pornography, assault, indecency and seduction of minor girls, indecency via the internet, and even trespassing at a minors home.
‘Sextortion’
The suspects method was almost always the same. Under false names, he contacted minor victims via various social media channels, such as Snapchat, and tried to gain their trust in a sophisticated way. He gave them compliments and then persuaded those girls, mostly by offering money, to make and send sexually explicit photos. He then stored these images without the girls knowledge. He also often sent sexually explicit images of himself. Once he had the victims in his grip, he forced them to continue. The suspect threatened to distribute the photos online if the girls did not do what he asked. Furthermore, a large number of photos and videos were found on various data carriers, including material he had obtained from the victims, often under his direct control. In addition, material was also found of other girls who could not be identified.
Impact
The public prosecutor: “Victim statements show that many girls still struggle with feelings of shame, inferiority, sadness and anger about what he has done to them. Many of them have had to seek professional help to process these unpleasant experiences. He confronted the young victims with his own sexual preferences and cunningly induced them to take photos in sexually explicit poses or videos of sexual acts. However, the suspect did not stop to consider this and repeatedly put his own needs first. He only stopped after being arrested by the police.”
Sentencing motivation
The suspect largely admits the facts. The Public Prosecution Service blames the man for having acted very calculatedly for a long time. According to the PPS, all charged offenses can be convincingly proven by means of reports, chat conversations, RC interrogations and the found material. However, the PPS takes into account in the sentence demand that the suspect has admitted most offenses, that he wanted to be treated and that the treatment was recently completed positively. According to experts, the chance of recurrence is low. Nevertheless, the Public Prosecution Service is of the opinion that besides prevention, strong action by police and justice is necessary to curb this form of crime. This also means that a long prison sentence for the offenses committed by the suspect is not only appropriate but also necessary.