Once upon a time in the north

By: Benjamin Roelofsma

13 May 1987: At least 10 children aged between three and five have been lured for sex games to a house in Oude Pekela, in the Dutch northern province of Groningen, during the past three or four weeks. The police speaks of "a very delicate case." The perpetrators have not been traced yet. Probably a man or a woman is involved.

15 May 1987: Contrary to former police reports, a number of young children has been sexually abused not just externally. At least one little boy has sustained internal injury as a result of being set about with a stick. Spokesman J. Maring from the Groningen State Police: "We are dealing here with very small children, you need to handle that very carefully. Otherwise you will fail completely and tremendously. As we estimate now, it is rather a case of maltreatment than of sexual games."

20 May 1987: The young children from Oude Pekela who are assumed to have been sexually abused, have undergone medical examination in the Winschoten St Lucas Hospital. According to the Public Prosecutor, LL. M.M.H. Severein, no internal or superficial injuries have been established on any of the children. "According to LL. M. Severein it did not become clear so far that in Oude Pekela pornographical pictures of children have been made". He even does not exclude that the perpetrators are older children. "Fairly often the children's statements are confusing and contradictory."

9 June 1987: Seventy children from the East Groningen village Oude Pekela have become the victims of illicit sexual acts. Three of them prove to have also been maltreated by the perpetrators. The police thinks of the perpetrators as the manufacturers of child pornography because of the video-takes that have been made. Only little is known about the perpetrators. There are indications that two men and two women were involved, of whom one should have dressed up as a clown.

In the meantime it has been established from the examinations that the children have been collected in small groups and by different cars at the moment the schools went out, or at places where they were playing. According to police spokesman Jan Maring the illicit sexual acts seem to have been committed in several old houses and sheds in the village. Sexual games have been played with them, but it remains vague what sort of games.

10 June 1987: The Oude Pekela case aroused the attention of the special American Senate Committee, engaged with, among other things, the investigation into child porn. "We are highly interested and we like to know all facts," said Dan Rinzil from Washington yesterday evening. During a meeting in Oude Pekela yesterday evening, organized by the parents, the police announced to have enough clues to continue the investigation. "We also have contacts with the police in Rotterdam and Haarlem where similar cases - only on a smaller level - have occurred," said a police spokesman.

13 June 1987: In a Zaandam district, ten detectives have investigated a neighbourhood extensively last Friday after a report had come in about four clowns distributing sweets to children. The clowns were not found. But four tourists who had made photographs nearby a children's playground, were taken for examination by the police. Later, a child confessed to have made up the story about the clowns.

13 June 1987: On the island of Texel and in Enschede two young men have been arrested who have committed illicit sexual acts in their immediate environment with several minor children.

13 June 1987: The scale of the case of illicit sexual acts in Oude Pekela is probably considerably smaller than what has been revealed by the police earlier this week. Fifty reports have been made since mid-April. In two cases there are concrete indications of possible sexual abuse. The Public Prosecutor in Groningen doubts if any adults were involved.

15 June 1987: The Public Prosecutor in Groningen will look for an expert - e.g. a child psychologist - to check all the children's stories once again. The Public Prosecutor possesses fifty official reports, which are supported in only two cases by real traces of sexual abuse.

16 June 1987: Dr W.H.G. Wolters, clinical psychologist at the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in Utrecht, has cast doubt too on the affair after the first television broadcasts. It did not only seem "peculiar" to him that a group of 70 children in total had been taken along, but especially the fact that only some of them are able to report details about what has happened. "It is a fact that children who go through very bad things are able to report details very well afterwards. How can it be that these children were not?"

Children easily absorb in the magic of the story or in the atmosphere in a group. Besides, one of the basic rules while interrogating children who have been sexually abused, is: do not ask leading questions. A social worker who asks: did this man also do that to you?, will hear an affirmative answer. A child likes to fulfil what he thinks is expected.

Until so far the reporting about the Oude Pekela case. Who knows, may tell. There are strong indications that there is talk of a 'mass psychosis': by all the (careless) publicity the whole affair expands from a supposed case of 'looking-at-each-other's-bottoms' among kids, which probably got out of hand, to sexual abuse (organized or not) of certainly 40, but maybe even 70 young children, and the perpetrators had only one goal, namely the making of child porn to earn a whole lot of money by that.

The result of all this publicity: a flood of reports to the police about supposed sexual contacts between children and adults; the call for a harder approach of the 'problem of child porn' (the U.S.A. are right all the same) and for more police; the Minister and the MP's have to awake at last and should stop soothing the case. In Zaandam the police arrests tourists who are photographing children, and there is a search for clowns who turn out not to exist.

All commotion comes into being, because there is talk of abuse of power and authority with the aim of doing 'something sexual' with (in this case very young) children. Our society sets quite different standards for both children and adults with regard to sexuality. Partly, perfectly right in relation to the physical and psychological immaturiy of children. On the other hand, children do have sexual feelings and wishes which are totally neglected by the hypocritical attitude of society.

We state that in relations with children not the 'sexual thing' determines the damage, but the context in which this (sexual) contact takes place.

I.e.:
A. Does the child consent; does not he feel forced.
B. Does not the adult take advantage of his physical and/or mental authority.
C. Does the adult take the child's psychological and physical development into account sufficiently. One should also meet these criteria for managing children in upbringing and education.

The Oude Pekela case makes embarrassingly clear that not only should one be extraordinarily careful with the examination of (very young) children, but also that the reliability of (very young) children is only very small. They fantasize about the parents' questions, exactly about those questions with regard to exciting and forbidden subjects. At other occasions too, it became clear to us that the accounts by 'victims' of sexual offences of children, are far from always similar to the facts that really happened. Even older children all too often tell more or less acceptable yarns to their parents and to the police. (Not really liked it; relentless situation, etc.).

Unwanted (sexual) contacts with older people (strangers) may yield damage, if there is talk of violence, force or abuse of authority. The strange phenomena occurs that force and light forms of violence with regard to children are far from always experienced as being harmful by our society. Practically every child will experience fear for punishment once in his/her life. There are educators who act with such authority that the children under their wings constantly live in fear (bed-wetting, nightmares and aggressive behaviour).

Spiritual freedom and free disposal of one's whole body belong to the basic rights of man. No exception may be made for small, immature people. The perception of sexuality, physical desire and intimacy is not an unimportant part of physical freedom, which may not be invaded just like that. Age does not matter in that. How frustrating it is to establish that in our society the right of sexual self-determination does not apply to children (and to a smaller degree also to women).

Should we believe some American police officials, then abusing children for porn intentions is worse than murder. In Oude Pekela too the rumours go round that photographs and video-takes have been made of the supposed illicit sexual acts. There would even be talk of an organized gang. To me, it seems unlikely that in the Oude Pekela case the children have been recruited for porn intentions. Whoever makes child porn (unless for own satisfaction/memory) wants to make a lot of money by it There needs to be a market for that There hardly is or is not for the age category between three and six - and there is talk of this here - because the target group is mainly attracted by children between eight and fifteen.

Some years ago, Dutch Parliament determined that pornography (images and description of human sexual behaviour) had to be removed from the penal code. Sex is natural, so why not show it (if only not on the public road). The urging of the U.S.A. and other factors made people think they ought to make an exception for child pornography. To be able to make child porn one needs to commit the severe criminal offence of 'illicit sexual acts with someone who is younger than sixteen.' A case against commercial porn can be made indeed: violence, force, prostitution, not being able to survey the consequences. In fact the same arguments which are also used against women in pornography.

Sexual behaviour of children is not generally accepted in our society; on the contrary: it is denied, systematically suppressed. Probably a whole lot of misery in relation to sexual abuse of children could be prevented if upbringing and education would focus more on the child's physical self-determination (read: integrity). Self-confident children do not let themselves lured just like that! Force, violence or, otherwise, abuse of power or of authority by age, should be punishable, not the sexuality. If this is accepted, all sections about illicit sexual acts can be removed from the penal code. The portrayal of human sexual behaviour in itself cannot be punishable anymore, neither in relationship to immature people.

source: 'Once upon a time in the north' by Benjamin Roelofsma; OK Magazine, no. 8; August 1987