Police investigating sex abuse of two young children on Ameland

The police are investigating two “serious sex crimes” involving young children in the Ameland village of Nes on Monday. The police can not yet say whether the same man was involved in both incidents or whether there were two different perpetrators. Investigators asked witnesses to come forward.

The first incident happened between 10:30 and 11:00 on the Westerpad near the Kwekerijbos. A man attacked a young child. “The man was alone at the time and had a bicycle with him,” the police said.

The second incident happened at around 7:00 p.m. in the dunes near the second beach entrance from Strandweg, behind the campsite. The child was playing in the dunes when a middle-aged man came to sit with her and spoke to her. “Shortly afterward, she became the victim of a sexual offense,” the police said.

The man may have been walking with two other people shortly before the attack. It is not clear whether they were together or he was just near them. The police want to make contact with these two people, in particular, as they could be important witnesses.

“These are two serious sexual offenses of which young children have been the victims,” the police said. Victim support was called in for them and their parents. “The police are conducting a thorough investigation and are hoping for more information from people who were on the island on Monday and saw something that could be related to these incidents.”