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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
total of 796 times (49%). 471 Fines are hardly ever imposed – 42 times in total, 17 times of which this is the
most severe main sentence (1%). The percentage of non-suspended or partially suspended custodial sentences
has increased over the past years, from 24% in 2006 to 37% in 2010. At the same time, a community service
order was imposed as the most severe sentence less often in 2010 (7% in comparison with an average of 12%
in the period between 2005 and 2009). This tendency towards more severe sentences is possibly linked with
the altered perception of the severity of the offence of child pornography (see §1.2). The suspended custodial
sentence imposed as the most severe main sentence fluctuates between 51% in 2007 and 64% in 2005.
For the 1615 cases in which the offender was convicted in the period from 2005 to 2010, a selection of
orders and additional penalties were also examined. 472 In 14 cases (1%), placement under a hospital order
was imposed in the case of an adult offender, and three times (0%) an order for placement in a young
offenders’ institution was imposed in the case of an offender who was a minor. A number of judgments
involved placement under a hospital order exclusively with regard to child pornography offences, and one
single case involved placement under a hospital order solely with regard to the possession and distribution
of child abuse material (and therefore did not relate to the production of material). 473 In these situations,
under certain circumstances, placement under a hospital order can also be required in the interest of the
safety of others or for the safety of society in general. 474 Furthermore, 104 cases (6%) involve an order to
provide compensation. 475 449 cases (28%) involved the removal of items from circulation, and one case
(0%) involved a confiscation order. The additional penalty of ‘forfeiture’ was imposed in 94 cases (6%).
Non-suspended or partially-suspended custodial sentences handed down in the first instance according
to term category
Figure 3.18 provides an overview of the term of the non-suspended component 476 of the custodial sentences
imposed in the cases in which a judgment involving a non-suspended or partially suspended
custodial sentence was handed down, between 2005 and 2010. 477
471 The <strong>National</strong> Consultative Committee for the Chairmen of Criminal Law Sectors’ reference point for
possession, acquisition and accessing child abuse material by means of an automated process or
through the use of a communication service, is a suspended custodial sentence of six months and a
community service order of 240 hours, see §3.6.2 following this.
472 Please refer to Appendix 4, Table B4.16 for the table containing the complete summary of this data.
473 Two examples of judgments in which placement under a hospital order was imposed solely for the offence
of child pornography: Court of Rotterdam, 9 December 2009, <strong>National</strong> Case Law Number: BK6022
(Dirk-Jan P. – production, distribution and possession of child abuse material) and Court of Dordrecht,
12 May 2009, <strong>National</strong> Case Law number: BI3715 (distribution and possession of child abuse material).
474 Article 37a, paragraph 1(2) of the Dutch Criminal Code. Cf. Public Prosecution Service, 2010: Kinderporno
intensiever aangepakt [<strong>Child</strong> pornography tackled more intensively], which states that the court declared
in 2009 for the first time that the offence that solely concerns the possession of abusive material concerning
children is also an offence which provides a risk to the inviolability of persons.
475 This does not mean that orders to provide compensation are imposed per se for victims of child pornography.
It is equally possible that in a child pornography case, an offender is convicted for an offence other
than child pornography, and that the order for compensation is imposed in relation to that other offence.
476 The suspended component of the partial and full custodial sentences is not displayed here. The fully
suspended custodial sentences are therefore also excluded here.
477 Please refer to Appendix 4, Table B4.17 for the table containing the complete summary of this data.