Members of banned pedophile association sentenced to prison
Two former members of the banned pedophile association Martijn were sentenced to four and six months in prison by the court in Rotterdam on Tuesday. The court considered it proven that they continued the pedophile club for years after the Supreme Court banned it in 2014. A third suspect, Nelson M. (27) from Lelystad, will likely be assigned new judges in his criminal case because of a mistake by the district court in Rotterdam.
According to the judges, "pedophile activist" Marthijn U. (49) and Norbert de J. (43) from Hengelo "glorified sexual contact between adults and children" and "downplayed" the harmful consequences thereof on several websites, a video channel, and a mailing list they set up. They portrayed children as "sexual beings."
With that, the two did precisely the same thing that banned association Martijn did, according to the judges. "They flouted the court verdict." U.'s sentence is two months higher because he played a more prominent role, according to the court.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded the maximum sentence of one year in prison against both, but the court found that too hefty. It spoke of "shocking, reprehensible, and socially undesirable propagated ideas" but noted that "those ideas can't be equated to child abuse or inciting it." The judges also pointed out that neither U. nor De J. had previous sex crime convictions against them.
The OM also demanded a year against Nelson M., but his verdict will follow at a later date. New judges will likely be assigned to his case after the court accidentally published a draft verdict - showing that M. was acquitted - on Tuesday before his lawyer had even given his defense. The court in Rotterdam said that it deeply regrets this mistake. The judges will withdraw, and three other judges will finish M.'s case.
M. is in Mexico, where he applied for political asylum. The organization Free a Girl launched a petition to prevent this. M. can't derive any rights from the accidentally published acquittal because the verdict was not singed nor pronounced.
