Belgium had requested the surrender of De K.. Justice in Dendermonde wants to prosecute him for murder or manslaughter and child kidnapping. Dean’s body was found on the work island of Neeltje Jans near Vrouwenpolder in Zeeland on Monday evening, January 17.
De K., previously convicted for the fatal abuse of a 2-year-old child, had already been arrested because he would have taken the boy from Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. He was the babysitter of the child and was arrested in Meerkerk in Utrecht.
The Belgian denies the allegations. He wanted to be tried in the Netherlands, according to his lawyer, because the conditions in the prison in Dendermonde are substandard. This would particularly apply to access to healthcare for detainees.
34-year-old Dave De K., who is suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and death of 4-year-old Dean, according to his lawyer has a ‘different reading’ than kidnapping and murder, of which he is suspected: