Foster parents suspected of attempted manslaughter as girl remains in critical condition

The suspicions against the foster parents of a 10-year-old girl from Vlaardingen have intensified. The man and woman, both aged 37, were arrested on Monday for attempted manslaughter and aggravated assault. The girl, who is critically injured, is still in the hospital. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said on Thursday it is now adding the charges of deprivation of liberty, and either putting an individual in a helpless state, or leaving them that way.

RTL Nieuws said that the girl had lived with her foster parents for over two years. A source close to the family told the media outlet that the girl and her little sister were placed with the couple at the start of 2022 after they were removed from their home in October 2021, according to information stated in a letter to the William Schikker Foundation, the institution that placed the girl with the foster family.

An examining magistrate was presented the early status of the case during an arraignment hearing on Thursday afternoon. The magistrate remanded the couple into custody for the maximum-allowable period of two weeks, the OM said.

“It comes down to the fact that they have treated the girl in such a way, at least that is currently the suspicion, that she ended up in hospital in a serious condition,” a spokesperson for the OM said. The man and woman were arrested after their foster daughter had been taken to the hospital with severe injuries a week earlier. The two are in restricted custody, and they are only allowed to be in contact with their attorneys.

The girl is still in the hospital. “You can know that the doctors are doing their utmost to ensure that things will turn out well at some point, but at the moment, she is not doing well,” the spokesperson added.

Vlaardingen Mayor Bert Wijbenga said that the girl “is not doing well.” Wijbenga added that she was very close to death, during an interview Wednesday night on OP1.

A silent march that was planned for Friday night was canceled at the request of the girl's biological mother and family members. “The girl is still alive, and the hope for recovery is still too strong for a silent march,” they said earlier in a statement from Namens de Familie.

The organization represents family members going through a traumatic situation. A spokesperson for the foundation could not confirm the dates the girls were removed from the biological mother's home, or when they were placed with the foster family, due to privacy rules.