Suspect in rape of girl, 7, at Rotterdam park could spend 5 years in jail
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended five years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment (TBS) for a 55-year-old Rotterdam man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl, ANP reported. The man allegedly grabbed the child and raped her while she was looking for frogs in the Zuiderpark in Rotterdam on August 12 last year.
According to the OM, the man approached the girl when her mother briefly lost sight of her. He dragged her into the reeds, pinned her to the ground, and raped her.
The child’s mother found her crying daughter a short time later. The child told her mother what happened, and the woman immediately called the police.
The man’s DNA was found both inside and on the 7-year-old girl’s body. The police arrested him in his home seven days after the crime.
A DNA match also linked the man to another child rape case in 2011, also involving a minor girl.
According to the OM, the safety of young girls and women is at the heart of this case. “The problem does not lie with the girl going to look for frogs on her own. The problem does not lie with her mother, who closed her eyes for a moment. The problem lies with the suspect,” the prosecutor said.
The court will rule on July 28.
