The man arrested for the death of 75-year-old Yvonne in Halsteren was given a TBS with compulsory treatment for rape last year. This concerns Elias M. The verdict shows that the suspect overwhelmed a woman in a park in Amsterdam, possibly when he was having a psychosis. The court said at the time that the man had ‘serious and complex disorders’. He was sent to a secure clinic for compulsory admission. The striking thing is that there is no such clinic in Halsteren.
The ruling in M.’s case dates back to February 2022 but was published on Tuesday.
The rape took place on February 23, 2021 in the Baanakkerspark in Amsterdam-Noord. The victim was jogging and calling a friend. ‘A boy’ walked up to her and asked for a light. The woman replied that she had not. Then the boy said something like, “You look hot.” The woman then saw that the man’s penis was hanging out of his pants and that he was masturbating.
Shout
Suddenly he grabbed the woman. He pushed his hand into her pants and his finger into her vagina and went up and down very hard. The woman still had the friend on the phone and shouted: “Hey, hello, act normal! I’m just being raped here!” When she shouted for her boyfriend to call the police, the perpetrator fled.
The police were able to track down the man. He initially denied everything, but later said he had done it under the influence of cannabis and alcohol. He saw himself as unreasonable and in a psychosis. This is a serious mental condition in which a person loses touch with reality.
Stomp
The man had even more to his name: a serious assault on December 5, 2020 in Amsterdam. He then allegedly kicked someone and punched him with his fist.
A day after the rape, the suspect was in a doctor’s office. There he took his penis out of his pants and rubbed it with his hand, while someone else had to watch.
Risk
Psychiatric and psychological examination revealed that the suspect has various psychological disorders. Experts called him less accountable. ‘Possible sexual problems’ can also play a role. The risk of recurrence was estimated as moderate to high unless treated.
He had been admitted once before. The psychiatrist who examined him found it ‘very worrying’ that he could make the same mistake again. That is why the advice was: clinical treatment with medication. But with a forced admission to a highly secured forensic psychiatric clinic.
The public prosecutor also demanded the same for the rape: a prison sentence equal to pre-trial detention and TBS with compulsory treatment. His lawyer did not want TBS, but supported admission.
Clinic
The court imposed no prison sentence and sent the suspect to a closed and secure clinic. But he still ended up in the mental health institution at the Vrederust Estate in Halsteren, which does not have such a specific clinic. There he received therapy or some form of treatment, but in relative freedom.
Everything indicates that this could happen because his TBS was not yet final, because the man has appealed. In similar cases, TBS treatment is postponed until a person has been definitively convicted.
The appeal that M. has lodged has been established. But more details are missing. It is another of the many questions in this murder case that demand an answer.
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