57-year-old convicted for sexually assaulting dozens of women while cycling near Leiden

A 57-year-old man who sexually assaulted at least 30 women in Zuid-Holland in four years from his racing bicycle has been sentenced to a year in prison. The court sentenced the man to 24 months in prison on Wednesday, with half of those conditionally suspended. The sexual assault incidents occurred between May 2019 and August 2023 in the polders near Leiden.

The man chose the victims, one of which was underage, at random and touched them on their buttocks, breasts, or vagina in clear daylight. The women were walking, skating, or cycling in remote recreational areas at the time.

The court concluded that they were chosen as victims because there would be no witnesses. The suspect acted "deliberately and calculatingly," the ruling said.

Police became aware of the man after he had been filmed by a camera of a boat rental company. The images were shared in a whatsapp group of the man's cycling club after a television broadcast of the investigation program Team West. He then turned himself into the police.

A psychologist has diagnosed the man with frotteurism disorder, a condition in which someone becomes aroused by touching another person without consent.

The women had no way of knowing that the man’s intention was to touch them shortly, and so, “many feared that he would return and do something worse,” the court concluded. “These are exactly the type of incidents that make women feel limited in their freedom of movement on the streets or going for walks.”

The court has ordered the man to undergo treatment at a forensic clinic. If he commits the same offense again within three years, he will also have to serve the other 12 months in prison.