240 hours of community service for father who abused newborn daughter

A 29-year-old man from Haaksbergen has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service for serious abuse of his newborn daughter. The court in Almelo stated on Friday that they found an unconditional prison sentence appropriate, as is usually the case with child abuse, but decided against it because the man is struggling with psychosocial problems and is allegedly undergoing therapy.

Although the court imposed a prison sentence of 80 days, 77 of these were suspended. The 29-year-old had spent the remaining three days in custody. The Public Prosecution Service demanded 180 hours of community service.

The court found it proven that the man grabbed his young daughter far too tightly on two occasions in October 2022 and squeezed her chest. The girl was just three months old at the time. She suffered several broken ribs. The injuries came to light when a pediatrician examined the girl for feeding problems. He also discovered internal bleeding and bruising, which could indicate that the man had abused her on several occasions.

During the hearing of the case two weeks ago, the man denied the accusations. He allegedly grabbed her firmly once at most when she would not stop crying. He did not reveal much else about what had happened. The judges pointed out to him that if he remained silent, his daughter and her slightly older sister could develop psychological problems later on. The file revealed that the man himself had been mentally and physically abused by his father in his youth.