Dutchman gets 10-yr RI for child abuse, uploading porn

Dutchman gets 10-yr RI for child abuse, uploading porn

May 27, 2011, 03.30am IST

(Weijdeveld held in city…)

CHENNAI: Wilhelmus Weijdeveld, a 58-year old Dutch national arrested on charges of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography in November 2009, was on Thursday convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by a fast-track court here.

This is probably the first case of arrest and conviction in the country under the amended Information Technology Act, 2008.

Weijdeveld, who has been living in India for more than three decades, was arrested in Choolaimedu on November 6, 2009, based on an Interpol alert that he was uploading child pornography from the city. Later, he came out on bail as the police failed to file the chargesheet within the stipulated time. But he was soon taken into custody under the Foreigners Act and lodged in a special cell at Chengalpattu.

Fasttrack court-IV judge K Anbazhagan on Thursday convicted and sentenced him to undergo 10 years imprisonment each under Sections 367 (kidnapping) and 377 (unnatural offences) of the IPC and five years under Section 67B (publishing of material depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. The judge, however, said the convict could undergo the three jail terms concurrently. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict.

"It is the result of great team work. We painstakingly gathered foolproof evidence. Though it started as a technology crime, investigations revealed that he was also sexually abusing children," additional deputy commissioner of police M Sudhakar, who investigated the case, told TOI.

A computer hard disc, a laptop and some accessories were recovered from Weijdeveld at the time of his arrest. As many as 18 witnesses were examined from the prosecution's side.

Weijdeveld, who was brought to the court from Chengalpattu special cell, was taken to Puzhal prison after the judgment was delivered.

In 2002, Weijdeveld was booked for sexual offences against children by the Mamallapuram police, but let out on bail.

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