The suspect in the case surrounding the death of nine-year-old Gino was already convicted in 2017 for child abuse. The court in Maastricht convicted the then seventeen-year-old Donny M. for threatening and abusing two boys and the abuse of at least one of them. The lawyer of one of the victims confirms this on Sunday after reporting from 1Limburg†
In December 2017, the court sentenced Donny M. to three years’ conditional placement in a juvenile detention center. In addition, he received almost five months in juvenile detention and treatment at a mental health institution in Eindhoven.
At the press conference on Saturday about the arrest of the suspect in Gino’s case, it became clear that Donny M. is known to the judiciary and the police. At the time, the police would not say for which cases he had previously been arrested or convicted.
Also on Sunday, spokesmen for the judiciary and police did not want to respond because the case is under restrictions. This means that no new information about the case is given. The suspect doesn’t want to talk to anyone except his lawyer. Lawyer Sjanneke de Crom announced earlier Sunday that he would not respond to questions about her client Donny M. and the case for the next three weeks.
Location was designated by the suspect
The now 22-year-old man from Geleen will be arraigned before the examining magistrate in Maastricht on Tuesday or Wednesday. Justice suspects him of kidnapping and involvement in Gino’s death.
The suspect lives near the empty burned-out house in Geleen, where the police found the boy’s body early on Saturday morning. The location was designated by the suspect, who had been arrested shortly before.
Gino disappeared from a playground in Kerkrade on Wednesday evening, where he was staying with a sister. Hundreds of volunteers, officers, firefighters and veterans conducted searches in Kerkrade in the following days. All hopes proved in vain when Gino was found dead in Geleen.