Helmond resident horrified by teacher assistant accused of sexually abusing 20 kids

Locals in the Brandevoort district Helmond are horrified by the revelation that a 25-year-old teacher assistant at a local primary school sexually abused at least 20 children. “The case hit here like a bombshell,” a local told NOS. All residents spoke anonymously due to the tight-knit community in the neighborhood.

The man worked as a teacher assistant at the Mondomijn school in Brandevoort. He was no stranger in the neighborhood. He set up a foundation, Smile per Mile, which organizes rides in cool cars for children with disabilities or serious illnesses. According to Omroep Brabant, he also coached a football team for children with disabilities in Brandevoort and was active in the children’s holiday club in the neighborhood. “You don’t expect that from someone like that,” a local playing billiards at the community center said to NOS.

“I think it’s terrible,” a grandmother told NOS as she picked up her 4-year-old grandchild at the Mondomijn school on Tuesday. “I’m actually picking up my grandson with a pounding heart.” He enrolled at the school in September, after the suspect was already in custody. “That doesn’t change the fact that what happened here is terrible, for the children and especially the parents,” she said. “How could it have lasted so long, that no one noticed anything?”

Helmond Mayor Sjoerd Potters told Eindhovens Dagblad that he is “very shocked” by the scale of the case and understands the anger and unrest in the community. “What people need to realize: it is especially intense for the victims. Give them peace and space to process this.”

That is partly why it is business as usual at Mondomijn, Ingeborg Schrama, chair of the QliQ Primair school group, which covers the school, told NOS. “We try to make it feel as normal as possible. Keeping the school open is part of that. In the meantime, we do our best to be there for everyone as best we can.”

Smile per Mile told Omroep Brabant that it was shocked and shaken by the allegations against its founder and “received no signals” that anything was wrong. “As of 14 September 2024, the former chairman has withdrawn from the board,” the foundation said. That was four days before his arrest.