She was thrown down the stairs, into her bed, onto the floor or onto a couch. Inaya, a girl of less than two years old from Den Bosch, also received blows to her face and body. It led to broken bones in both arms, numerous bruises and a swollen eye. She was also shouted at regularly. The child was spared nothing in 2023. Her mother’s boyfriend, Jeffrey van der D., has been sentenced to prison and TBS.
According to the public prosecutor, these ‘purely sadistic’ abuses were mainly the work of Jeffrey van der D., the then boyfriend of Inaya’s mother. What this man did to the child is shocking and must be severely punished, the officer stated at the court in Den Bosch on Thursday.
Jeffrey is also said to have threatened and abused others, including Inaya’s mother. For all these offences, the 28-year-old resident of Den Bosch was sentenced to four years in prison and TBS with compulsory treatment. He would also have to pay compensation to Inaya, among others.
Aggravated assault
Jeffrey and the girl’s mother met in June 2023. Their relationship does not last long. At the end of October of that year, the Bossche had had enough. She no longer feels comfortable with her new boyfriend.
She calls Safe at Home and the police are also called. Officers notice that Inaya’s face shows bruises, bumps and scratches. Later, more injuries become visible. Some time later the couple is arrested: both are suspected of seriously assaulting the girl.
You could have heard a pin drop in the courtroom when 25 minutes of footage was shown showing Inaya being manhandled by Jeffrey. For some of those present, they were so shocking that they left crying.
‘More than spanking’
The images, some of which were enlarged during playback, came from a baby monitor camera that Jeffrey himself installed in the girl’s room. The victim is alternately grabbed, beaten, thrown into her bed and pulled up again by the scruff of her neck. Jeffrey turned his head away from the screen when the images were shown: “I have already seen this and I want to put an end to it.”
He previously talked about ‘spanking and corrective slaps’, which were handed out between July and the end of October 2023. After the images were shown, he had to admit that that explanation did not come close to covering it.
Inaya’s mother was also seen in the images, she hardly intervened. It will never become clear why: the woman died last year. According to Jeffrey, she already hit the child when the couple started a relationship. “I continued this and got through to it,” the Den Bosch resident acknowledged. But why did Inaya become the victim of the bill, while her brother, for example, remained out of the picture?
‘I thought it was a blood disorder’
It appears that Jeffrey – who, according to experts, has a personality disorder – took out his frustrations on the girl. “I wasn’t excited, but her mother made me do this. We also had more and more words with each other. But even then, none of this should have happened, I am ashamed of it now,” Jeffrey said.
He said he had not considered the consequences of the (non)verbal violence he used against the child. “I thought she had a blood disorder. And earlobe damage she suffered wasn’t because of me. She also hurt herself. I can’t justify anything else, even though I’m not a bogeyman.”
‘Cowardly, weak and soulless’
Inaya’s father made no bones about the suspect in his victim statement. He called him ‘cowardly, weak and soulless’, but also said he will never forget that the girl’s mother was complicit.
He further stated that Safe at Home made mistakes because this organization should have responded to signals much earlier. His daughter has almost recovered physically from all the violence; it is unclear what the psychological consequences will be.