A woman from Budel-Schoot abused her baby so severely in 2022 that the child already had many broken bones and bruises at the age of six months. The most gruesome details of these abuses were discussed in the court in Den Bosch on Monday. “I lifted my daughter high in the air, shook her hard back and forth and then threw her forcefully into the playpen,” the woman (35) said.
Regular long and hard shaking, broken bones all over her body, hours in the hallway or in the shed with a full diaper, immersion in a cold bath and also throwing the child and dropping it from the couch.
This completely untenable situation came to light in November 2022 when the six-month-old baby ended up in the hospital in Weert malnourished and hypothermic. Medics saw that everything was going on. The child had not been properly cared for and bone fractures were found all over the body, sustained at different times.
There was a skull fracture, two broken ribs, broken wrists, tibia, ankles and femur. Some fractures were caused by hard shaking or incorrect pulling up (jerk or tensile forces), but the greatest damage was caused by throwing into the box. According to the woman, this happened once, but both the public prosecutor and the judges had doubts as to whether this had happened more often.
Bad childhood
The woman was very emotional in court and tried to explain her side of the story in many words. She admitted that she had done wrong things out of desperation and that she had made wrong choices.
Her life story sounded like a bad story from start to finish. From severe abuse and bullying in her own youth, to loneliness, intellectual disability, disorders and medication. She lived with her mother who abused her until she was thirty. Then she got married and quickly became pregnant. That didn’t go well at all, but she didn’t dare ask for help for fear that her daughter would be taken away from her.
The woman had arguments with her family and never had any friends. After moving from Roosendaal to Budel-Schoot, things went downhill even further in the summer of 2022. She was alone in a bare house with a few months old baby. Her husband worked long hours and could only care for their baby on weekends. The woman drank gallons of Red Bull to stay on her feet.
She did not take her medication properly, which caused her to become even more at odds with herself. She didn’t care for the baby’s cries and often didn’t want to see them. According to the woman, the baby was teasing her and the child did not want to hear from her.
More and more crazy behavior
That feeling of rejection led to increasingly crazy behavior. The woman took everything out on her child. So she scolded the child. It was a ‘shitty child’ and she ‘didn’t want to see her anymore, she’s just figuring it out’, as she described her anger and frustration in messages.
She often shook the young child hard and sometimes put her in a cold bath, hoping that she might stop crying. In angry messages to her husband, she accused him of abandoning her and that she was alone. The baby was not given enough food and in the meantime the woman was also pregnant with a second child.
Mother’s heart
It became clear in court that the woman urgently needed help. Her two foster children are now in the same foster family. The experts agree that the woman has reduced accountability and should be treated and given a TBS with conditions. Once this has been completed, further treatments should follow, possibly including assisted living and help with daily activities.
The woman knows she is wrong, she admitted. She should have made different choices, she told the judge. But she also showed her motherly heart by saying that she continues to hope to one day be reunited with her daughters and her husband.
People in white coats
That scenario seemed very far away on Monday. Too much has happened for that and the chance of recurrence is far too great. Her eldest daughter is afraid of people who look like her mother and also of people with white coats. Her youngest daughter was born in captivity and had to be given up an hour after giving birth. She sees the youngest once a month, the oldest only in photos.
She has had no contact with her husband for almost a year, who may also be prosecuted for all the events. According to the public prosecutor, he knew about the abuse, but never intervened.
Forced treatment
The public prosecutor also wants the woman to receive TBS treatment, but then a forced treatment. According to her, treatment demands a lot from the woman and it will be a long, difficult road. She also demanded a prison sentence of five years.
The woman’s lawyer thought this demand was far too high and ignored the advice of the experts. She argued that the woman herself is also a victim and needs urgent help.
The court will rule in this case on March 13.