Rotterdam man convicted of making child pornography in Brazil, Nepal

A 74-year-old Rotterdam man was convicted on Tuesday of both producing and possessing child pornography. During the criminal trial at the District Court in Rotterdam, Joannes S. admitted to making the illegal content, which featured naked children in Brazil and Nepal.

In convicting the Rotterdam man, the court imposed a prison sentence of two years. The man can serve 15 of those months on conditional release, and he already served nine months of his sentence in pre-trial detention.

“We no longer believe it is appropriate to send you back to prison,” the court said in its verdict. The sentence is equal to the demand of the Public Prosecution Service.

“I did things that I should not have done, and I knew it. I argued with myself o I could justify it. I was confronted with this in therapy,” said Joannes S. about the images he made in Brazil and Nepal of naked boys swimming in the river. He seduced and manipulated them with candy and presents as a means to convince them to pose for his camera, he told the judges.

S. not only made content of teenagers when they were playing, but also when they were touching themselves or each other. “Photography was a way for me to deal with my orientation,” he claims. “I have a preference for young boys, which is not accepted by society.”

The man was arrested in June 2019 upon his arrival at Schiphol Airport. A tourist from New Zealand had complained about him to a hotline. The Dutchman allegedly behaved suspiciously towards children in Nepal. On the man’s computer, in addition to his own images, the police also found child pornographic material that the man had downloaded from the internet.

The man was initially imprisoned for abuse with a then 13-year-old boy in Nepal but was not charged. He denies physically touching his victims. According to the OM, the investigation in Nepal has not led to conclusive evidence to prove sexual abuse in the country. That is why the authorities decided to prosecute him only for the material found on his data carriers.