The Hague, Netherlands (AP) — In the first trial in the Netherlands for so-called ‘stealing’, a Dutch man was found guilty Tuesday of removing a condom during sex without his partner’s consent.
However, the Dordrecht District Court ruled that sex was consensual, thus acquitting the man accused of rape.
“By his actions, the suspect persuaded his victim to have unprotected sex with him. abused.
Other courts have also grappled with this phenomenon in recent years. In Germany, in 2018, a Berlin court found him guilty of sexual assault and sentenced him to an eight-month suspended sentence for secretly removing a condom during intercourse, and the victim to pay her nearly €3,100 in damages. A suspended sentence was reduced to six months for him on first appeal.
In 2021, California lawmakers enacted the first state in the United States to ban “stealth”, making it illegal to remove a condom without verbal consent. But it didn’t change the criminal law. Instead, we will amend the Civil Code so that victims can sue perpetrators for damages, including punitive damages.
In the Dordrecht case, a 28-year-old man from Rotterdam was given a three-month suspended prison sentence and was not required to serve the sentence unless he committed another crime and was required to pay the victim €1,000. Damages ordered ($1,073).
In another stealth trial, another man was acquitted after failing to prove he had any intent to coerce his partner into unprotected sex.