A 37 -year -old man from Sleeuwijk has been acquitted of committing fornication. As leader of Scouting Altena, he would have touched girls of twelve and fifteen years old unsolicited. According to the court in Breda, the man has caught, but it cannot be established that his actions at the Sleeuwijk association were sexual in nature.
The public prosecutor stated two weeks ago that the man had gone too far between 2017 and 2021. A community service sentence of 180 hours was demanded. Just like a conditional prison sentence of two months, he only had to sit out when he went wrong again. He would also not be allowed to contact two members of the Scouting Club for two years. K. has always maintained that he does not recognize himself in the allegations. He saw, among other things, as a form of comfort.
“Not normal, dirty and incomprehensible, why?”
One of the girls he would have misbehaved thought very differently. Two weeks ago, in the courtroom, she said K. had completely ruined her life. “Not normal, dirty and incomprehensible,” she addressed her former scouting leader. “Why I, was I so special?”
The ball came rolling in the summer of 2022. K. had gone to the Nakwa in Zeewolde with members of the Waterscouting, including four favorite girls. This is the four -yearly and largest water scouting camp in Europe. K. took pictures of girls in swimwear in a large tent. When he was approached, he refused to remove the photos. One of the scouting members applied with a friend and former clubmate and he replied with: “Now you are the bobbin, now that I am gone.”
Also read: Scouting leader touched young girls: ‘Now he goes after you’
That girlfriend had left the scouting, because she could no longer handle that K. always looked her up and touched everywhere. A hand on her leg, a hug, just tickle on her stomach or touch her breasts: it went on and on. Once he even took her to his house, where he tried to get his fingers in her pants, although according to the judge this cannot be proven. Anyway: after all these years the girl’s life had become hell, she told in court.
Other girls also had to undergo the leader’s too amical behavior, as was explained during the session. He refused to stop, despite a warning. Leaders also noticed that the Sleeuwijker left his hand on the groin of a girl for too long or often hugged. The judge thought it was striking that a fellow declining who witnessed this did not think it was necessary to take action.
“I have lost most friends and that hurts.”
After the camp in Zeewolde, a declaration was made and the world of the suspect collapsed, he said during the hearing. The water scouting in Sleeuwijk was everything for him and that changed instantly after he had been sent away: “Since then I have lost 90 percent of my friends. And that hurts after 24 years of scouting. ” There has never been sexual foruming. He did not earn that much injustice, was his argument.
His lawyer added that the girls never said they did not want his support. He also stated that his client did not have any sexual intention, which has now been confirmed by the court.