Vlaardingen girl abused by foster parents still in coma

The 10-year-old girl who ended up in the hospital with severe injuries in May, allegedly caused by abuse from her foster parents, is still in a coma in a rehabilitation clinic. Her foster parents, John and Daisy, both 37 and from Vlaardingen, will appear in court for the first time on September 5. They systematically and increasingly physically and psychologically abused the child for months, multiple sources told the Telegraaf.

The girl was taken to the hospital with multiple broken bones and severely malnourished during the early hours of May 21, according to the newspaper. She was in a coma and has still not woken up. She had been living with these foster parents since 21 March 2022. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects her foster parents of attempted manslaughter, serious abuse, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and placing or leaving someone in a helpless state.

Sources told the Telegraaf that the foster parents regularly tied up the girl in their house on Madoerastraat, using handcuffs or tape to tie her to a radiator, for example. One source said they used her as a house slave. “Think of a situation in which she had to mop the floor on her knees. Then one of the foster parents threw something on the floor so that she had to clean it again.”

The girl asked strangers at the shopping center and people at her school for help multiple times. But each time, the agencies involved with the family dismissed her story. According to the Telegraaf, William Schrikker Youth Protection and foster care organization Enver even decided to keep her out of school in December after she repeatedly told staff that she was being abused.

“She was beaten up and barely given anything to eat. Imagine that she had to watch her foster parents eat something tasty as a punishment while she was starving,” a source told the newspaper. Another said she was forced to wait upstairs while her foster parents, their biological child, and another foster child celebrated Sinterklaas on Pakjesavond.

The Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate, the Justice and Security Inspectorate, and the Education Inspectorate are currently investigating what went wrong with the aid provided to the girl.

A lawsuit about guardianship of the girl previously showed that William Schrikker Youth Protection had doubts about the foster parents’ suitability and wanted to transfer the girl to another family, but partly due to advice from the Child Protection Council, it was decided to keep the girl in their care.

Her sister was removed from John and Daisy’s home at the end of 2023 and placed back with their biological mother.