Amsterdam sexual health counselor suspected of sexually pursuing his patients

A counselor working for the Center for Sexual Health (CSG) at the GGD Amsterdam public health service has been suspended due to claims of sexually transgressive behavior. Mayor Femke Halsema and Public Health and Prevention Alderman Alexander Scholtes detailed the situation in a letter to City Council on Tuesday. The mayor and alderman are asking the court for permission to terminate the employment contract as soon as possible "on the grounds of seriously culpable" and highly inappropriate actions on the part of the worker.

On January 23, the GGD Amsterdam received a complaint from a client about the care provider involved. A day later, the integrity office there was asked to conduct an internal investigation. The care provider was immediately suspended after the report was filed.

The investigation was completed on May 26, and it showed that the care provider "approached at least two clients privately for the purpose of making an appointment, with the apparent purpose of intimate contact," Halsema and Scholtes wrote in the letter. "Contacts took place at the outpatient clinic and in addition, one client (at the invitation of the person concerned) also visited the employee's home."

At the moment it cannot yet be ruled out "that there may have been more seriously culpable behavior by the person concerned," the letter to City Council stated. "For this reason, we will start a further investigation in the coming period examining the past actions by the care provider." This investigation will be handled by an external agency.

The social worker's behavior is not at all acceptable, the mayor and alderman said. "The CSG, whose core task is to work on the sexual health of Amsterdammers, must be an environment par excellence where contacts with employees of the GGD are safe and reliable. It is precisely here that an employee has abused his position as a care provider of vulnerable clients. With this, the person concerned has seriously damaged the interests of the clients, that of the municipality and therefore that of the GGD."

Halsema and Scholtes said a report was also submitted to the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate, as it concerns an employee listed in the country's official registry for healthcare professionals, a requirement to practice.