Foster parents sentenced to 8 years in prison for Vlaardingen girl's severe abuse
The court in Rotterdam convicted Johnny van den B. and Daisy W. of systematically abusing their 10-year-old foster daughter to the point that she ended up comatose in a hospital in May last year. The court sentenced the foster parents to 8 years in prison, with no treatment. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had recommended prison sentences of 11 years and institutionalized treatment (TBS) against the two.
The suspects’ abuse came to light when the then-10-year-old girl from Vlaardingen was admitted to a hospital in critical condition during the early hours of 21 May 2024. She suffered a severe brain injury, five broken ribs, and five fractured vertebrae. She had scars all over her body. The child suffered brain damage and now functions at the level of a toddler.
According to the OM, the suspects physically and mentally abused the girl, chaining her to a bunk bed or locking her in a cage with an electric wire attached. “This constitutes a form of psychological torture,” the prosecutor said during the trial. They also starved the child. She weighed only 19.5 kilograms when she was admitted to the hospital in May last year.
Investigators suspected that the foster parents pushed the girl down the stairs, causing her to sustain the injuries that left her comatose, but could not find enough evidence to prove it. The prosecutor, therefore, dropped the attempted manslaughter charge against them. They were convicted of aggravated abuse and deprivation of liberty.
During the trial, Van den B. admitted to restraining the child, but claimed he did so for her own safety. He denied most of the allegations against them. “Our story has been distorted, and we were cut off during interrogations. We are being portrayed as two monsters, while the truth is different,” he said.
Van den B. and W. are also suspected of abusing three other foster children - the Vlaardingen girl’s little sister and two Syrian boys. Their cases will be tried later.
