A 46-year-old man from Weiteveen has been sentenced to 40 hours of community service for abusing his 6-year-old daughter in Emmen. A strong warning, the judge said: “As a sign that it should not be this way.”
The assault at the end of August 2023, at a photo shop in Emmen, was seen by several people. The girl first wanted to go to the photo shop and later she wanted to sit in the car again. Because the car was parked along a busy road, the man decided that the girl should wait in the car.
The girl struggled. She was forcibly put into the car. Witnesses saw the man then punch the child several times. They heard the child screeching. According to the father, he gave her a corrective slap on the buttocks. The judge finds the statements of the witnesses more reliable.
Some reacted upset to what they saw. The police were called. According to the judge, the man’s car was blocked, preventing him from driving away. “That’s not true,” the man responded. The officers saw the girl in the backseat. She was crouched down. No injuries were observed.
Injury is not necessarily necessary for assault, the judge said. “But there was pain. And the statements show that the child was screaming. There was pain or a feeling of discomfort.” As an adult, the man should have gotten the child into the car in a different way. That children can struggle and be obstinate: “That is part of their upbringing,” the judge said.
The public prosecutor demanded 60 hours of community service, of which 40 hours were conditional. The judge considers only the conditional part to be an appropriate punishment.