The 45-year-old woman who was arrested this week on suspicion of possible involvement in the death of a 1-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter, according to the Public Prosecution Service (OM). In addition, the resident of Alphen is said to be guilty of leaving the boy in a helpless state. She is allowed to await the trial in freedom.
The woman who was arrested this week was the child’s childminder in June 2022. The boy was taken to a hospital and died two days later. After investigation, the child turned out to have died from ‘inflicted injuries’, the police said on Wednesday.
The Public Prosecution Service cannot yet say anything about what exactly happened at the time. “The investigation is still ongoing, so it will take some time before she has to appear in court,” says a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service. The research takes time because it involves ‘customization’, she says. “Good and extensive research must be done.”
Woman previously suspected
Gökhan Demir, the woman’s lawyer, is happy that she can await the trial in freedom after being arraigned before the examining magistrate. She is especially shocked that she was arrested a year and eight months later, says Demir. “She has previously been identified as a suspect and has always cooperated and told everything. So the fact that she has now been arrested in the presence of her child was very hard.”
Manslaughter is a ‘very serious charge’, her lawyer believes. “It’s just a very sad story, for the boy’s family, but also for my client,” Demir said. The woman says she is innocent.
‘Reclusive life’
Since that fateful day, the childcare center has been closed, about five years after its founding. “She then stopped herself,” says a mother who also brought her children there. “The owner said that she could no longer afford it after everything that had happened. As parents, we of course fully understood that.”
The shock is great in the area of the former childcare center. According to local residents, the incident in June 2022 has had a huge impact on the family of the 45-year-old childminder, who lives in Alphen with her husband and daughter. “Since then they have lived a very secluded life.”
WE WROTE THIS PREVIOUSLY ABOUT THIS CASE:
Boy (1) died at daycare, childminder arrested
Neighborhood shocked after arrest of childminder: ‘She suffered from it’