Utrecht serial rapist’s conditional release delayed again over psychiatric placement
The conditional release of Utrecht serial rapist Gerard T., convicted of raping four women between 1995 and 2001, has been postponed again due to the lack of a confirmed placement in a forensic psychiatric clinic (FPK). The court approved a delay of up to one year on Thursday, following a previous six-month postponement earlier this year.
Gerard T., 62, has been in custody since 2014 and was sentenced in 2017 to the maximum 16 years in prison for four violent rapes in Utrecht and the surrounding areas. Under the rules in effect before 2021, he became eligible for conditional release after serving two-thirds of his sentence. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) requested the delay to ensure he returns to society safely under supervision in a forensic psychiatric setting.
Earlier this year, authorities struggled to find a clinic able to accommodate him. Although a potential FPK has now been identified, final approval from the municipality where the clinic is located is still pending. The OM warned that placement could take several more months, prompting the court to allow T. to remain in the penitentiaire psychiatrische centrum (PPC), where he is currently held. The court emphasized that he will be transferred to an FPK as soon as space becomes available, even if that occurs before the one-year delay expires.
“The phased and supervised adjustment to freedoms under the supervision of justice contributes to a safe transition from detention to society,” the court wrote.
T. began attacking women in September 1995, using a mountain bike to approach victims, threatening them with a knife, and forcing them to predetermined locations to commit rape. His methods included kidnapping a woman on a scooter, cutting her underwear with a knife, and using a bicycle pump during one assault. One victim reported that when she asked him to use a condom, he said, “I won’t get you pregnant; I never do that.”
Despite his violent crimes, T. has remained largely silent during his trials. Psychiatric examinations at the Pieter Baan Center were inconclusive because he refused to speak to evaluators. He previously claimed to have PTSD, but no evidence supported the diagnosis. Authorities were unable to determine the likelihood of reoffending.
The investigation was lengthy. T. was only arrested in 2014 after a DNA sample he had provided following a bicycle theft matched evidence from four rape cases. While he was suspected in 18 additional rapes and sexual assaults, prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to charge him.
