Amber Alert suspect described as "seriously damaged young man" in previous conviction
The court described Donny M., suspected in the abduction and death of 9-year-old Gino van der Straeten, as a "seriously damaged young man" when convicting him of threatening and assaulting two other boys and sexually abusing at least one of them in 2017. Experts advised that he could not live without supervision, AD reports based on the court judgment.
The verdict, given when M. was 17 years old, shows he had a difficult childhood. It states that he was "neglected and seriously failed" in his youth and "has already experienced many drastic life events."
The psychiatrist and psychologist who examined M. diagnosed him with an autism spectrum disorder, reactive attachment disorder, attention problems, and ADHD. The experts said that M. could not go without supervision and that he rarely learns anything from punishment. According to the newspaper, the verdict said that M.'s foster parents agreed with those conclusions, saying that he "cannot actually be left alone," according to the newspaper.
The court described a seriously damaged young man in urgent need of treatment, saying the risk of recurrence was "moderate."
AD spoke with the father and stepmother of one of M.'s 2017 victims. The then young teenager and a friend accompanied M. to a stairwell of a flat, where he hurt both of them and sexually abused one. "Only now, after Gino's death, do I realize that it could have been much worse for my son," the father said. The other victim's mother said something similar to Hart van Nederland.
M. was sentenced to almost five months in juvenile detention and institutionalized psychiatric treatment for the 2017 abuse.
M. is now suspected of kidnapping and involvement in the death of 9-year-old Gino. The boy disappeared from a playground in Kerkrade on Wednesday. His body was found near M.'s house in Geleen on Sunday. M. was arrested a short time earlier and told the police where to look.
On Monday, the police again investigated M.'s home in Geleen. Investigators also made an "urgent" appeal for dashcam images that show a blue Volkswagen Lupo, especially early on Wednesday evening between Kerkrade and Geleen.
M. will be arraigned by the examining magistrate in Roermond on Tuesday.
