Dutchman Held in Child Abuse Case
This is a case in Netherlands where a 27 year old man was arrested in one of the worst child abuse cases that defamed the teaching profession. This man was working as a substitute teacher in a preschool at Amsterdam and also rendered babysitting services. This man was suspected for abusing up to 50 young children and was arrested in Amsterdam. He was working in at least two nursery schools according to the reports.
Robert M was the identified subject and was arrested by the Netherlands police. This nursery teacher was arrested when the Dutch police telecasted a television program that referred an unidentified victim of child pornography. The victim’s parents identified and confirmed their child from the television image informing to the police authorities which lead to the arrest of the suspect on the same night.
This preschool teacher’s computer was seized which contained child pornography and as the interrogation got hard, he confessed dozens of sex crimes that he committed in a year and half. The scene got worst when he stated that his victims were girls as well as boys under 4 years old. The media confirmed that a mother suspected that her child was sexually harassed at one of the nurseries and had filed a complaint. The mother said that she was not taken seriously neither by the police nor the nursery management.
The police spokesman addressed media by telling that they were seeking more information and witness in the ongoing investigation that would help in the arrest. Finally, the police department identified and arrested the suspect after which they published the photo through the media. This was very unusual, as the Netherlands police prevent publication of suspect’s photo under the privacy laws. This was a unique step taken to reassure those parents whose children were not affected. The criminal was a specialist and an expert in encryption as his computer had sophisticated protection.
Such cases are very common in all parts of Europe and hence, a united action should be taken for the protection of the children. This should be a combined work by the NGOs working for child rights, the state police and the other concerned committees.
