Police failed to arrest Amber Alert suspect last year for child porn possession

At the beginning of 2021, the police found child pornography on the mobile phone of Donny M., who is the suspect in the murder of the 9-year-old boy Gino van der Straeten. However, the police did not arrest M. at the time, nor did they conduct any further investigation, a spokesperson for the judiciary confirmed after reporting from De Limburger.

When the police found the child pornography, they were aware of M.'s sexual history. He was previously convicted of fornication with a minor. Despite this, authorities left him alone last year.

According to the judiciary, the mobile phone with the child porn ended up in a bin at the police station and was then overlooked. Only when the suspect was arrested in June this year for the murder of 9-year-old Gino, spurring the police to search the systems, did the cell phone reappear. From then on, the telephone was involved in the investigation.

Donny M. recently confessed to abducting, sexually assaulting and killing the 9-year-old boy, who disappeared on June 1, 2022. The boy's body was found near M.’s house in Geleen on June 4, after the suspect told the police where to look. M. will be Pieter Baan Center on Oct. 17 for observation.