A 42-year-old man from Klazienaveen is in custody on suspicion of raping his neighbor. This became apparent in the court in Assen on Tuesday.
The man has been convicted before for abusing children. In the past he has also received a TBS with compulsory treatment and juvenile TBS for sexual offences. According to his lawyer Niek Heidanus, he spent at least ten years in a TBS clinic. Last September, the suspect was arrested for committing indecency with his neighbor. He has been in custody ever since.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the victim was 5 years old when the sexual abuse began. The child was allegedly touched several times by the man near his genitals and buttocks in the summer of 2023. The boy was also allegedly forced to massage the suspect’s genitals. The man is also suspected of raping the boy and possessing child pornography.
Bond of trust
The Public Prosecution Service states that the suspect abused the bond of trust between him and the child. The man had a relationship with the mother. The Public Prosecution Service says that he knew it was a vulnerable boy. It is striking that the man was acquitted by the court in Assen last year of abusing a 4-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister in 2018 and of possessing child pornography.
In this case, the court found that there was not enough supporting evidence for the alleged victims’ statements. In the opinion of the court, additional investigation was not an option because the case had been shelved for too long. The two children stayed a few times in 2018 with the Klazienavener, who at the time still lived with his then boyfriend in Westerhaar-Vriezenveensewijk. Their parents were neighbors and friends of the man.
In connection with the new suspicions, the 42-year-old suspect would be examined by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, but he refuses to cooperate. That is why the public prosecutor wants the man to go to the Pieter Baan Center (PBC) for observation. The man, who was not at the hearing on Tuesday, will also be heard about this by the investigating judge. Lawyer Heidanus said he urged his client to cooperate. In that case, admission to the PBC is probably not necessary.
It is not yet known when the criminal case will be dealt with substantively.