A former dance teacher (61) from Dongen is suspected of abusing two young women during dance lessons he gave. The abuse happened twenty years ago, but today the man stood before the judge. One of the women who fell victim to him is Kim Koumans. She is now known as the whistleblower of sexual abuse in the dance world. Community service and a former prison sentence have been demanded against the dance teacher.
Kim Koumans became a victim of the man twenty years ago, in 2004. He allegedly fondled breasts, buttocks and vagina without being asked. He did that with his fingers and with his erect penis. The abuse happened during dance lessons in Rijen. For the abuse of Kim, the justice department demanded a community service order of 60 hours and a suspended prison sentence of one month, in case he makes the mistake again.
Another victim of the man is a girl who was fourteen years old at the time. She became a victim of the dance teacher 25 years ago. He allegedly had sex with her several times in the toilet and on a bed in his dance school in Rijen. The woman made an emotional victim statement in court while crying. “You were my greatest example, but you are a dirty little man and I hope you are punished for what you did to me and others,” she said, among other things. She suffered PTSD from what happened to her and was treated for it.
The public prosecutor does not doubt this victim’s statement for a moment, but because it cannot be supported by other evidence, the man should be acquitted.
‘None of that happened’
It is not the first time that the suspect from Dongen has been accused of abuse. In 2005 he was convicted of fornication with another fourteen-year-old girl, for which he was sentenced to 240 hours of community service. And in 1998 a sex case against him was dropped.
The man admits that he has once been ‘seduced by a girl’. But denies that he has anything to do with the abuse for which he came before the judge this Friday. “What I am accused of now, none of that happened,” the man told the judge.
He also said that he also felt like a victim: “I was almost beaten to death by the friends of someone who filed a report against me. Furthermore, the police wrongly pulled a gun during a routine check. After that, I was wrongly detained among criminals and drug dealers for ten days. In the meantime, my parents passed away and all this has left quite a scratch on my soul. Teaching dance lessons remains my passion, but I can no longer do it. I no longer see a future.”
Abuses in the dance world
Whistleblower Kim Koumans was not present in court on Friday. She got the case rolling and was the first to go to the police. The other victim followed shortly after.
Koumans has been working hard for years to expose abuses in the dance world. The former dancer is also the point of contact for dancers who have experienced similar abuses. Partly thanks to her involvement, a major investigation into sexual abuse in the dance world began in January 2021.
The research report was presented to the House of Representatives last year. This showed, among other things, that inappropriate behavior on the dance floor occurs relatively often. Koumans was happy with the outcome, but also expressed the hope that perpetrators will not get away with excuses.
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