Fmr. police chief accused of raping cop at her home

A former police chief of the Oost-Nederland police was arrested last week on suspicion of rape. He is accused of attacking a female police officer from Arnhem at her home in November 2020, when he was still in charge of the unit the victim worked in, De Gelderlander reports.

The 58-year-old man from Twente was taken into custody, questioned, and then released. The suspect denied the allegations against him and accused the victim of defaming him. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is currently assessing the case file to see if there is enough evidence to prosecute.

According to the Gelderlander, the suspect and victim had a workplace affair. The alleged rape happened after the relationship ended.

"Someone was heard as a suspect this week," the victim’s attorney told the newspaper. She is somewhat relieved that her accusation is being taken seriously years after the alleged incident happened. However, it took far too long, the attorney told the newspaper. "It took a long time before the man was heard as a suspect."

Earlier this year, the OM decided to prosecute another former police chief, a team chief at the Haarlemmermeer police, for raping a police officer working under him. According to the OM, there is enough evidence to show that the man forced the woman to have sex with him.

The Noord-Holland police fired the victim for violating professional secrecy because she took her case to the media when her complaint against her superior did not lead to results. She fought her dismissal in court, but the judge in The Hague ruled against her in 2021, saying that she did not have to go to the press because she already spoke to the police’s confidential adviser internally.