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Implementation
the victims, the perpetrators of sexual abuse and the production of abusive images involving children.
Possession of child pornography (and child erotica) can serve as an indication that can be used to detect
possible abuse and production. 369 With regard to priorities, the Implementation Provisions report that
this plays an important part in identifying the victims, and that it is difficult to estimate the severity of
an investigation into child pornography in its initial stages (see §3.4.3).
A <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong> Expertise Centre has been established within the Public Prosecution Service;
this centre is under the direction of the national coordinating public prosecutor in child pornography
cases. The Expertise Centre is administered by the Rotterdam district public prosecutor’s office.
In addition to this centre, there also exists a Victims of Sexual Abuse Liaison Officers Platform,
chaired by the deputy chief public prosecutor of the Rotterdam district public prosecutor’s office,
who is also chair of the Sexual Abuse Committee. The way in which child pornography is tackled
forms part of this committee. The child pornography portfolio is not held at the <strong>National</strong> Public
Prosecutor’s Office. 370 At the College of Procurators General, the sexual abuse and child pornography
portfolios are assigned to different Procurators General.
Alternative methods of settlement
The government and the House of Representatives are in agreement that by shifting the focus towards
individuals suspected of the sexual abuse of children and towards the production and distribution of
abusive material involving children, attention must still be given to cases involving downloaded material
that involve the possession of, or the gaining of access to, child abuse material. The Minister for
Security and Justice hereby states that other methods of dealing with the problem must be employed
for this, including extrajudicial methods. 371 Investigations into child abuse material remain complex
and time-consuming. 372 Before a case comes up for a hearing, the Public Prosecution Service also has
opportunities to settle the case itself. On the basis of the Public Prosecution Service Settlement Act,
the Public Prosecution Service is able to issue a punishment order, which contains orders with which
the convicted perpetrator must comply. 373 If (behavioural) orders are also issued with the punishment
order, the probationary period can be a maximum of one year. 374 Out-of-court settlements also
369 Implementation Provisions concerning child pornography (Article 240b of the Dutch Criminal Code),
Dutch Government Gazette 2 December 2010, no.19121, p.2.
370 The involvement of the High-Tech Crime unit of the <strong>National</strong> Public Prosecutor’s Office in the current
investigation into the Amsterdam sexual abuse case by the Team High-Tech Crime of the <strong>National</strong> Crime
Squad forms an exception to this.
371 Letter from the Minister for Security and Justice of 10 June 2011, Parliamentary Papers II 2010/11, 32 500 VI,
no.106.
372 According to the Public Prosecution Service, the number of cases reported to the police has increased
on a yearly basis, Public Prosecution Service, 2011, available at: www.jaarberichtom.nl/jaarverslag-2010/
typeinfo.cijf/aDU1045_Landelijke-expertise centrum-kinderporno-vroegtijdig-ingrijpen.aspx (viewed
20 June 2010). Cf. §3.4.3. In the Progress Report of March 2011, the Minister indicates that the total
number of pending cases stabilises each year at around 750 cases, with two peaks above this. First Progress
Report 2011 on the tackling of child pornography, Parliamentary Papers II 2010/11, 32 500-VI, no.86.
373 The Public Prosecution Service Settlement Act, Dutch Bulletin of Acts and Decrees, 2006, 330, entered
into force on 1 February 2008.
374 Article 257a, paragraph 3(e) of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure.
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