Dutch court sentences pedophile to 18 years

7:37 AM, May 21, 2012   |    comments
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AMSTERDAM (AP) - Judges have handed down an 18- year sentence, plus indefinite treatment in a psychiatric institution, to a pedophile who molested dozens of extremely young children in Amsterdam preschools and then shared videos and images of the acts on the Internet. 

The Latvian-born Dutch defendant, identified under the Netherlands' privacy laws only as Robert M., has been dubbed "The Monster of Riga" by the national press. He was convicted of abusing 67 victims, though he confessed to more. Most were toddlers, but the youngest were infants, some only "weeks" old. 

The case deeply shocked the Netherlands when M. was arrested in December 2010, following a tip from American law enforcement authorities. 

Presiding judge Hans Bauduin said M's expressions of remorse were not credible and gave them no weight in sentencing. 

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