Dutch prosecutors demand 2.5 years in prison for child sex tourist

17 June 2011
BY: BNO News

AMSTERDAM (BNO NEWS) -- Dutch prosecutors are demanding a prison sentence of more than two years for a tourist who collected child pornography for most of his life, and who frequently travels to Cambodia where he allegedly produced child pornography.

The 66-year-old man, whose identity was not released, was arrested at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on February 3, 2010, upon his return from Bangkok, the Thai capital. His suitcase was found to contain child pornography.

Dutch police discovered more child pornography when they searched the suspect's home. In total, prosecutors said a total of 3,700 images and 293 movies of child pornography were discovered. They were collected between 1965 and February 2010.

In addition, the man is suspected of producing six images of child pornography during his stay in Cambodia, which is infamous for its child sex tourism. The child pornography in question showed a boy between the age of 14 and 16, but it is unknown if he abused any other children during his frequent trips to Cambodia.

The other child pornography shows children between the ages of 4 and 18. "The prosecutor has in his demand taken into account the repulsive nature of these images and movies and also the text which the defendant put alongside the images in scrapbooks," the country's prosecutor's office said.

"Child pornography has been criminalized in our country because, at the core of each movie and picture, there is an abused child," the office said in a statement. "Children are vulnerable and should be protected as no other. Those who collect this material are creating a demand for child porn, which in turn results in new child victims."

Because officials are concerned that the defendant might continue his behavior, prosecutors have demanded a prison sentence of 38 months, of which eight months are conditional. They have also demanded a probation period of 10 years, which is much longer than the usual two years.

Prosecutors have also said that the defendant does not see the seriousness of his crimes, and he is furthermore not cooperating with a psychological investigation.