New bill to make possession of pedophile handbook punishable

A new bill will make the acquisition, spreading and possession of the so-called pedophile's handbook a punishable offense in the Netherlands that can carry a maximum prison sentence of four years. According to Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security, this manual endangers children as it lowers the threshold for child abusers who want to get started.

The pedophiles' handbook contains tips and tricks on how to groom children, abuse them, and get them to keep the abuse a secret. It has been available on the dark web for over a decade. The manual is actively shared in forums for child molesters, and continually supplemented with new tips, advice and experiences.

According to Grapperhaus, sexual abuse of children is one of the most devastating crimes for the victims and their loved ones. "Children have the right to a safe environment to grow up in. It is horrifying and unacceptable that - mostly through the dark web of the internet - people are sharing advice on how to abuse children." That lowers the barrier "to actually perform the malicious acts", he said.

"Abuse situations - offline and online - must be stopped. We must also prevent children from ending up in an abuse situation as much as possible," the Minister said.