Prison time demanded against Amsterdam cop caught with underage prostitute
A 27-year-old Amsterdam police officer caught having sex with a 17-year-old prostitute in 2014, appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday. The Public Prosecutor demanded 6 months in prison, three of which conditionally suspended, against him, AD reports.
The police officer was visibly upset when telling the court what happened, according to AD. Shortly after he found out his now ex-girlfriend was cheating on him, the officer visited sex site kinky.nl. There he came across "Candy", who was 19 years old according to her ad. But at the time that the two met and had sex in Diemen, she was in fact only 17 years old.
At the time the man was put on probation for seriously neglecting his duty, and he still works for the police. According to the cop, he was not dismissed because the police leadership "saw the nuances of the case" and also took his "flawless work record" into consideration.
According to the Public Prosecutor, as a police officer the man should have known better. He did not even ask her how old she was, let alone made any other attempts to verify her age, the prosecutor said, according to the newspaper.
The Prosecutor added that there is no such thing as underage prostitutes, "there are only children who fall victim to sex crimes and should be protected by the law because they can not see the consequences of their choices".
The suspect's lawyer was skeptical about this argument. According to him, the police used her as a "bait whore" and tapped her phone. It is strange that the prosecutor wants to protect underage victims, while at the same time the police did not intervene when the phone tap revealed she made an appointment with a man, he said. He added that the victim herself told investigators that she does not feel like a victim."
The court will rule on July 12th.