A 32-year-old man from Borculo in Gelderland has been jailed for 10 years, followed by compulsory psychiatric treatment for the rape, sexual assault, and sexual blackmail of at least 23 women and girls.

Half of Mark S’s victims were minors when the abuse happened. He approached them via social media using false names and, after persuading them to send him bikini or nude photos, blackmailed them into carrying out sex acts online.

He also threatened his victims’ families, demanding money in return for not placing the images on the internet. In total, he earned about €115,000 from his victims, which he used to pay for his gambling addiction.

S carried out his crimes between 2011 and 2024, despite several police complaints, including one from a former girlfriend. The investigation began in 2023 after one victim reported to the police after being forced to have sex with an unknown man.

The public prosecution department had called for a 12-year jail term, followed by treatment in a psychiatric clinic. S had denied most of the charges.

The court said in its ruling that the facts of the case were extremely serious and the consequences for the victims made it irrelevant whether the abuse occurred online of offline.

“Many victims will be marked for life,” the court said. “Many of them have lived in fear and uncertainty for years, not knowing if the photos of them would appear online and who was behind the accounts. Some of them have developed PTSS and other psychiatric complaints which continue to impact on their lives every day.”

The court said it had decided to sentence the man to a psychiatric prison at the end of his regular prison because the risk of re-offending is high. “The suspect,” the ruling stated, “has largely denied what happened, despite the facts, has a lack of insight into his problems and denies having a personality and sexual disorder.”