Donny M. confesses to abducting, drugging, abusing, and killing 9-year-old boy Gino
Update 13:20 - Article updated to add comments by Donny M., Gino's sister, and details about the next hearing.
Donny M. confessed to abducting, sexually assaulting, and killing 9-year-old Gino van der Straeten, Public Prosecution Service (OM) said in the court of Maastricht on Wednesday. The OM suspects the 22-year-old man from Geleen drugged Gino and suffocated him with a pillow, NU.nl reports.
Gino disappeared on June 1 while playing in a park near his sister’s house in Kerkrade. The police issued an Amber Alert, and officers, family, and volunteers spent days searching for the boy. Early on June 4, the police arrested Donny M. They found Gino’s body near M.’s house in Geleen after the man told the police where to look. M. previously confessed to abducting and killing the child.
After confessing, M. called what happened horrific. "It shouldn't have happened," he said in the court.
The OM saying that M. is suspected of killing Gino visibly upset the boy’s mother. She jumped up and yelled at M.: “He killed my little boy!” The hearing was briefly interrupted, and Gino’s mother followed the rest of the session from a separate room. Gino's sister also shouted to M. "I'll get you someday, boy. Even if it takes twenty years."
M. is also suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography. He is also accused of making one child pornographic video sometime early in 2019, showing a sleeping child. M. confessed to making the video.
M. will be admitted to the Pieter Baan Center on October 17 for observation. Psychiatrists and psychologists at the center will assess his mental state. The case continues on Monday, December 5, with another pro-forma hearing. It is not yet clear when the substantive trial will start.