GRIM

Man Convicted of ‘Stealthing’ After Removing Condom Without Consent

But he was acquitted of a rape charge after a court ruled the sex had been consensual.

A Dutch man was found guilty on Tuesday of having removed a condom during sex without the consent of his partner in the Netherlands’ first conviction for “stealthing.” The 28-year-old from Rotterdam was given a three-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay his victim 1,000 euros ($1,073) in damages. The Dordrecht District Court acquitted him of a rape charge after ruling that the sex had been consensual. California became the first U.S. state to ban “stealthing” in 2021, making it an offense to take a condom off without first receiving explicit verbal consent. The state’s criminal code remained unchanged, however, with changes instead being proposed to its civil code so that victims could sue the perpetrator for damages.