Former rector of 4e Gymnasium school in court on child pornography charges

The former rector of Amsterdam’s prestigious 4e Gymnasium secondary school was in court on Friday accused of possessing child pornography, reports NOS broadcaster. He is also accused of manipulating images of children at the school.

The 51-year-old, named in the Dutch press as Hans V., is accused of secretly filming 26 students and editing together footage so that it resembled child pornography. He is accused of, for example, sticking the faces of these children on images from child pornography.

According to the Dutch prosecutor, the man had almost 35,000 photographs and 23,000 videos on his computer. There were no indications that he had committed a physical offense involving children.

The man was suspended two years ago when the allegations came to light, and he admitted to the school at the time that he had downloaded child pornography.

According to Tweets by Telegraaf reporter Mascha de Jong from the courtroom, V. said he thought he was attracted sexually to children starting puberty, but had never shared the images with anyone.

A victim, in the court, responded that this was ‘bullshit’ and that ‘you are never the only person who has something.’

The case continues.