The court in Haarlem on Thursday sentenced two men suspected of distributing a sex video of the Dutch singer Patricia Paay to suspended sentences.
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Michel V. (42) was given a month’s probation, co-suspect Ernst van der S. (47) was given a 50-hour suspended sentence of community service.
The singer says in a statement that she is “slightly disappointed”. “These are grown men who have knowingly done this and have not thought at all about what this can do to someone’s personal life and career.”
The sentences are lower than the prosecution had demanded two weeks ago. The prosecutor had demanded a month’s imprisonment, of which two weeks suspended, against V. and an unconditional community service of 80 hours against Van der S. In addition, the prosecutors demanded fines of 200 and 250 euros.
In 2017, an infamous pee sex video leaked through social media.
The court cleared both men of libel. Defamation is accusing someone of a fact that could compromise that person’s integrity. That is not the case here, the court finds. “The video shows two adult persons who have engaged in sexual acts with mutual consent and were filmed,” the court argues.
However, both men were guilty of insult and copyright infringement. “By placing the explicit sex video, Patricia Paay has been deliberately portrayed in an unfavorable light, as a result of which her honor and reputation have been damaged”, the judge ruled. The suspects could have known that she would be recognized by many people as a famous Dutchman. “The court does not consider that Patricia Paay herself is open about sex and has sometimes posed naked.”
The court finds that the suspects had to wait a very long time for their trial for their wrongdoing in 2017 and therefore opted for fully suspended sentences.
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