Vlaardingen foster parents accused of abusing 3 more children; First victim "stable"

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is charging two foster parents accused of severely abusing a 10-year-old girl in their custody with abusing three other foster children as well. These are two boys and the first victim’s half-sister. The 10-year-old girl’s condition is stable, the OM revealed in court on Monday. She will require intensive care for the rest of her life. Both the biological mother of the boys and the girls are furious, their spokesperson said.

The boys, who were 11 and 5 when they stayed with the foster parents, were allegedly kicked and beaten. The foster parents pressed cigarette butts out on their skin and they had to sleep in a dog kennel, the OM said in court. They were also given little to eat. The foster parents allegedly abused these boys, brothers, between 20 July 2021 and 13 September 2021.

The OM told the Rotterdam court on Monday that after earlier media reports about the 10-year-old girl, a psychologist who had treated one of the brothers came forward. The psychologist made video footage available to the police and judiciary, showing one of the boys talking about the foster parents abusing him.

The fourth child, the 10-year-old girl’s half-sister, was allegedly abused by the foster parents between 12 March 2022 and 31 December 2023. She was 2 and 3 at the time. They allegedly kicked her all over her body and forced her to stand in a bucket with her own excrement. They also shaved her hair, the OM said.

10-year-old girl in stable condition

The medical condition of the 10-year-old girl who got this case rolling when she was hospitalized severely beaten and in a comatose state in May is stable, the OM said. “There are very small developments. She is literally and figuratively taking small steps,” the OM said in court. “This does not alter the fact that she will be dependent on intensive care for the rest of her life.”

The girl suffered brain damage and broken bones and was in a coma for weeks. When she was taken to the hospital, she weighed only 20 kilograms, the OM said at the previous hearing in September. The girl regained consciousness on July 23.

The OM suspects the foster parents of trying to kill the girl by pushing her down the stairs. According to the OM, they also locked her in a cage with electric wires attached to it, tied up her arms and legs, and taped her mouth shut.

Biological mothers’ response

The two boys’ mother is angry and sad. She has not yet been questioned by the various Inspectorates investigating the safety of care in the Vlaardingen foster family, her spokesperson for the organization Namens de Familie, which represents the families of victims.

According to the boys’ biological mother’s spokesperson, she was initially advised against reporting the abuse to the police. “She had previously shared their experiences, but in her view, too little was done. She feels the experiences were hushed. Her request to report the incident to the police was rejected. If only she had done so at the time.” The boys were placed with another foster mother, where they arrived “black and blue,” the spokesperson said.

For the girls’ mother, it remains unbelievable that her children were placed with the family, said the same advocate. “Now that it has become clear that the boys were already abused in 2021 and that this must have been known, including to the foster care institution that placed the girls. It is extra painful for the mother now that she realizes that her daughter could possibly have been spared the misery if the boys’ reports had been followed up more seriously. She sympathizes with the grief of the boys’ family.”

The OM expanded the charges against the suspects, Daisy W. and Johnny van den B., both 37, on Monday. They were not present in court. The next preliminary hearing is on February 12.