Parents of abducted Dalfsen children extradited from Belgium, held in Dutch custody
The biological parents of two children abducted from Dalfsen, Overijssel, were extradited from Belgium and taken into Dutch custody earlier this week. A judge extended their detention by 14 days on Friday as prosecutors build their case, AD reported.
During this period, the parents will be questioned by investigators. Afterward, authorities will decide whether the couple should remain in custody. The parents face charges of child abduction and unlawfully removing minors from state custody.
The two siblings, a 6-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, had been placed in foster care in Dalfsen several years ago by court order. At the end of March the children were seen at Dalfsen train station with their biological parents. Dutch authorities immediately issued an Amber Alert, the highest level of missing person warning, due to serious concerns about the children’s safety.
A joint Dutch and Belgian police operation led to a raid at 2:30 a.m. at a rented house in Leupegem, Oudenaarde, where the two children were found unharmed with their biological parents. Dutch police said, “The children were found in the presence of their biological parents at around 2:30 in the morning in a house. They were arrested on suspicion of removing the children from legal custody.”
The father, Michaël van K., a lawyer from Enschede, had his legal license suspended, according to RTV Oost. The disciplinary board for Dutch attorneys, the Raad van Discipline, ordered the suspension, citing that Van K. is no longer able to properly conduct his law practice.
“Given the course of events, in which Van K. took his children and attempted to relocate to Belgium, it must be concluded that he can no longer carry out his legal practice in an appropriate manner,” the supervisory authority stated.
