Bones Season 3 Episode 9

Bones refers to the Dutch Santa ("Sinterklaas"), who has an assistant called Black Pete ("Zwarte Piet" - the black part is because he climbs down the chimney to deliver the presents) who punishes children with a whip.

Actually it's not a whip but a "roe", a bunch of twigs bound together. Alternatively he also carries a big jute bag to put the naughty kids in, so he can take them back with him to Spain (where Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet live) and they will never ever see their parents again. Nowadays the big jute bag and the roe are no longer used because of all the frightened kids and Zwarte Piet became a generous character. Sinterklaas is celebrated in The Netherlands on December 5th and in Belgium on December 6th.