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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
community-based interventions such as COSA will be able to contribute to the reduction of re-offending amongst
sex offenders. 633 The Dutch Probation and After-care Services believe that the possibility for long-term probation
and after-care supervision is necessary for the successful application of these interventions (see §3.6.2). 634
With reference to problematic Internet usage, special conditions can also be enforced to restrict access
to the Internet, see §3.6.2. Technical means can also be used to try to counter the viewing of child abuse
images or videos. Software is in use that monitors the computer for language and content. 635 On the
one hand, whether or not such solutions make sense is debatable. Clinical psychologists doubt whether
special conditions and therapies that are based on the full or partial absence of the Internet are desirable,
since it is possible that this may send out a message to the convicted offender that he/she is not able to
have any control over his/her behaviour. 636 In the society of today, it is barely possible to restrict Internet
traffic completely. At the same time, this will increasingly turn out to be a bogus solution: the Internet
is increasingly being offered (for free) at locations that the public has access to, such as on-board trains,
in catering establishments and shops. Tablets and (pre-paid) mobile telephones enable easy access to
child abuse material, which is almost impossible to monitor. In addition to these practical drawbacks,
judicial drawbacks surrounding the restriction of access to the Internet are also referred to, including a
possible breach of the freedom of expression, as stipulated in Article 10 of the European Convention on
Human Rights. 637 On the other hand, supervision is one of the main tasks of the probation and after-care
service, and that supervision should therefore not be limited to the analogue world.
Registration and notification
There are various ways in which the registration of convicted sex offenders can contribute to increasing
public safety. It is possible that registration in itself may already be exerting a preventive effect, since
convicted sex offenders know that various institutions already have their eye on them. 638 Various institu-
633 Finkelhor, 2009.
634 Dutch Probation Service, 2010, p.17.
635 See: www.securus-software.com/pdf/monitoringoffenders.pdf (viewed 22 June 2011); in addition to
this, the company Info-Excellente is developing an Internet Control-desktop (ICD). The ICD can be used
within each variation of supervision alongside other technological facilities, such as the electronic
ankle band for example. The ICD is a desktop containing hardware and software that ensures that the
individual placed under supervision is able to use the Internet without Wi-Fi or wire connection. An
internal key logger ensures that the test assessments are logged. The software that is supplied examines
the data that is generated from this for keywords and websites visited.
636 Taylor & Quayle, 2003, p.209.
637 Gercke, 2009, p.71; see also: ‘Human Rights Guidelines for Internet Service Providers’ from 2008 from
the Council of Europe.
638 See also Article 37 of the Lanzarote Convention regarding the collecting and storing of national data –
with regard to the identity and genetic profile (DNA) – about convicted sex offenders. On the basis of
the DNA Testing (Convicted Persons) Act (Dutch Bulletin of Acts and Decrees, 2004, 465) and the Decree
of 10 December 2007, regarding the amendment of the list of violent and sexual offences to which the
DNA Testing (Convicted Persons) Act applies (Dutch Bulletin of Acts and Decrees. 2007, 513), cellular
material is taken from a convicted perpetrator due to an offence as described in Articles 240b, 242 up
to and including 247, 248a, 248b and 273f of the Dutch Criminal Code, for the purpose of determining
the DNA profile and the incorporation of this into a DNA database.