First-ever conviction for "stealthing" after man secretly removed condom; One man acquitted

On Tuesday, the court in Dordrecht sentenced 28-year-old Khaldoun F. from Rotterdam to 3 months on probation for secretly removing his condom during sex. The court considered the act to be a form of coercion, but acquitted the man of rape. This is the first time in the Netherlands that a suspect was convicted of stealthing. The court also acquitted a second suspect in a similar case.

During a date with a woman in the summer of 2021, F. and his date agreed to have sex and that F. would wear a condom. When they were making out, he allegedly took off the condom in secret.

That is known by the English-language slang term, stealthing: when a man removes or omits a condom without the consent and knowledge of his sexual partner. It is a form of forced unsafe sex, the public prosecutor argued during the trial.

The court ruled that F. abused the trust his sexual partner had placed in him. He also knowingly took the risk that he could give her an STI or impregnate her without her knowledge or consent.

In the second case, 26-year-old Ruben R. from Rotterdam never put on a second condom when having anal sex with his sexual partner. R. said he voluntarily asked for the new condom but “forgot” to put it on during foreplay. He said he was impressed by his partner’s sex toys, and became distracted. The prosecutor had recommended a one-year prison sentence with six months of that time suspended on probation.

The court acquitted him, saying it could not be proven that he acted intentionally and deliberately by not wearing a condom. "The Public Prosecution Service had charged rape and coercion, and both require intent to reach a conviction," the court said.

According to the court, there was intent in the case of Khaldoun F. The court based this on the statements of the woman and conversations that the two had afterwards via WhatsApp. In F.'s case, the prosecutor demanded a year in prison, of which four months were to be conditionally suspended. The sentence imposed was lower, because the punishment for coercion is lower than for rape.

Both suspects were not present when the verdicts were read.