Harsher punishments needed, says mother of Amber Alert suspect's previous victim

Marja Rullens, whose son was one of two victims of Donny M. in 2017, thinks the courts should impose harsher sentences. "Because Donny M. will not stop, "She said to Hart van Nederland. "I think they are being treated too mildly. Everything is based on a difficult childhood. They get away with that very easily."

Donny M. was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of kidnapping 9-year-old Gino van der Straeten in Kerkrade last week. The police found Gino's body a short time later near M.'s home, where he told the police to look. He is suspected of kidnapping and involvement in Gino's death.

In December 2017, the court in Maastricht convicted M. of assaulting and threatening two boys and sexually abusing at least one of them. Rullens' son Gernando was one of those boys.

On 28 June 2017, 7-year-old Gernando went to play outside on a playground with a friend. Rullens became worried when he didn't come home two hours later, and she couldn't find the boys. When Gernando finally did come home, he immediately told her that something bad had happened. "He told me that a guy with a three-legged dog had taken them," she said to Hart van Nederland. "He told me that he had been thrown. He had scraped his knees. He also had to drop his pants. His friend had to do things to Donny and the other way around. Donny did everything with that boy in a flat in Sittard."

"At one point, my child was blindfolded and recorded. The tape and the cloth were also found with Donnly later that night. Gernando was able to tell in detail everything he had seen," Rullens said.

The incident had a massive effect on her son, Rullens said. "He didn't dare use the toilet on his own anymore. He was even afraid of my phone when he was seven years old because he was afraid that everyone would film him. When we came across a three-legged dog in town, he would just curl up."

Her daughter called her when Donny M.'s name was connected to the Gino case. "I was completely frozen. You realize more and more that those children escaped death. I recognized him immediately in the photo. I can't describe what went through my head. This stays with you for the rest of your life," Rullens said. "I believe Donny should not have been allowed to return to society. I said: he is going to make even more victims. I mean, if you already dare to take two young children with you in a full apartment building and you have these tendencies at 17, then you are really sick."