Read all about the disappearance of toddler Dean in this file.
The minister reiterated that De Kock had fully served his ten-year prison sentence after the assault on 2-year-old Miguel, but that he had made several requests for early release. “Every question was rejected,” it sounds.
Moreover, the legal instrument to succeed De Kock after his release did not yet exist for these facts at the time. “Today there is an instrument to follow up such a person, that is the posting. This allows a judge to rule that a certain convict must remain at the disposal of the judge 15 years after the end of the sentence and therefore be followed up,” explains Van Quickenborne.
The minister adds that the Tilburg prison, where the man was then imprisoned, had made an application to place De Kock in a psychiatric institution. However, that was never addressed. “Then the prison decided to let him continue his sentence in Ruislede, where he was accompanied to get rid of his (drug) addiction,” said Van Quickenborne.