The Public Prosecution Service must still prosecute youth care agencies in Hoogeveen for culpable homicide, that is what Sharleyne’s father wants. The 8-year-old girl was found dead at the bottom of the Arend flat in Hoogeveen in 2015. Her mother Heleen J. was sentenced to ten years in prison for throwing her from the flat.
Victor Remouchamps believes that, among others, the Center for Youth and Family and the Welfare Foundation have done too little to help Sharleyne. He holds the aid workers partly responsible for the death of his daughter.
Three years before the girl’s death, several reports of neglect and domestic violence in the mother’s home had already been reported to emergency services, according to a Zembla broadcast in 2016.
Initially, it was decided not to prosecute the mother. Justice stated that there was insufficient evidence against her. After a lawsuit brought by Sharleyne’s father, the court ruled that a criminal trial should still be held.
Heleen S. was initially acquitted, but on appeal was still sentenced to ten years in prison.