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Implementation
The majority of cases involve non-aggravated child pornography (91% on average). The cases relating to
aggravated child pornography mainly involve making a profession or habit of child pornography. Three
instances occurred in which child pornography was committed in association with another party/other
parties and one instance occurred in which child pornography involved an abuse of authority (all in
2010). The remaining circumstances that result in an increased penalty did not occur.
As previously stated, it is not possible to ascertain from the statistics whether the prosecution or trial was
carried out as a result of the possession, distribution or production of child abuse material. However,
there is strong evidence to suggest that the majority of criminal cases over the past years concerned the
possession of such material. 444 Research into this matter points in the same direction. 445 The Verbeterprogramma
[Programme of Improvements] 446 , the Korpsmonitor [Police Corps Monitor on <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong>]
for 2009 447 and 2011 appear to confirm this impression. 448 If this assumption – that most cases involve
the possession of child abuse material– is correct, the high percentage of cases of non-aggravated child
pornography is probably striking, considering the fact that proving the circumstance of making a profession
or habit of the possession of child abuse material, which increases the sentence, appears to be quite
a simple matter. This is possible, for example, on the basis of the material that is uncovered, especially if
this consists of a large quantity or if it relates to repeatedly downloading material over a certain period of
time (see §3.5.3). However, it is possible that in this case, the statistics provide a distorted view and that
in reality prosecution takes place more often under the condition that increases the penalty subject to
Article 240b paragraph 2 of the Dutch Criminal Code. This discrepancy could then be the consequence
of an incomplete registration. 449
444 Based on the analysis of 274 judgments on www.rechtspraak.nl concerning 2008 and 2009 based on
the search term ‘240b’ in the period from 2000 up to and including 2009. J.J. Oerlemans, ‘Een verborgen
wereld: kinderpornografie op internet’ [A hidden world: child pornography on the Internet], FJR (Tijdschrift
voor Familie- en Jeugdrecht) [Journal for Family and Juvenile Law], issue 10, October 2010, pp.236-243,239.
The research project was carried out in the context of a thesis by the same author entitled Kinderpornografie
op internet. Dweilen met de kraan open [<strong>Child</strong> pornography on the Internet. Mopping up the water
while the tap is still turned on] Celsus Juridische Uitgeverij 2010. It should be noted here that this
research project only took case law that had been published into consideration.
445 Lünnemann et al., 2006, p.108.
446 Landelijk Project Kinderporno [<strong>National</strong> project to tackle child pornography], 2008, p.14.
447 Programma Verbeteren Aanpak Kinderporno [Programme of Improvements in Tackling <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong>],
2009, p.20.
448 Programma Verbeteren Aanpak Kinderporno [Programme of Improvements in Tackling <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong>],
2011, p.9. The focus for tackling child pornography is not clear. Four variants exist, which contain some
degree of variation: focus on the victims (five of the 25 police forces), focus on abuse/distribution/
production (seven police forces), focus on possession/distribution (nine police forces) and four police
forces stated no clear focus, see §3.4.3.
449 Notably, if cases were only registered on the basis of the first subsection of 240b of the Dutch Criminal
Code and not on the basis of Article 240b paragraph 2 of the Dutch Criminal Code. However, it is not
possible to verify the precise manner in which cases are registered at a later stage.
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