Prosecutors recommend four years jail for former police officer accused of raping teen

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has recommended a four-year prison sentence against two men for the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Nieuwegein during the overnight hours of 18 October, leading in to 19 October last year. One of them, Walco B., 45, was serving as a police officer with the Midden-Nederland force at the time but has since been fired.

B. was out that night with 48-year-old co-suspect Wouter van A. They encountered the victim in a café in IJsselstein and offered to drive her home to Nieuwegein. Instead, they allegedly stopped at a fast-food parking lot, where the girl was sexually abused for around 80 minutes. The OM says the victim had been heavily intoxicated. “She was unable to get away.”

Both suspects were arrested by police a few days after the incident. They were held in custody for 89 days before being released to await trial outside detention. The OM is asking the court to remand B. and Van A. back into detention.

Suspect B. told the court he was “stumbling drunk” on the night in question. The defendants deny that any coercion took place, a claim firmly rejected by the Public Prosecution Service. Van A. further argued that the victim had taken an initiating role and was not under the influence of alcohol. Both suspects also state they did not know the girl was 17 years old.

The victim’s lawyer described the defendants’ statements as “deeply hurtful.” She stressed that her client “did not want sex, she only wanted to get home, nothing more and nothing less.” The lawyer said the girl was “a small, slender teenager” who found herself “alone in a car with two drunk adult men.” The prosecutor referred to both suspects as “big, strong men.”

The victim, who attended the hearing, said in court: “I don’t understand how the suspects can say I wanted this. I didn’t even respond. I felt very powerless, also because of the alcohol. I just couldn’t do anything.” She urged both men to tell the “full story.” The OM said her report is credible, in contrast to the suspects’ statements: “It happened as she described.”