A man from Belgium was checked in the Vosges mountains in France on Thursday after Dutch police officers mistook him for Jos B., the man suspected of murdering 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in 1998, the Limburg police confirmed to NU.nl.
The Belgian man was not arrested as some media sources reported, only checked to confirm his identity, the Limburg police said.
The police in Limburg sent a letter of apology to a woman who was raped by a patient of a psychiatric prison who was on unaccompanied leave in December 2016. While being questioned after reporting the rape, the then 21-year-old woman was put under pressure by two sex crime detectives who did not believe her, The Volkskrant reports.
The police are looking for witnesses to a serious sex crime that happened in the vicinity of Hertzorgstraat and Heemstraat between midnight and 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. A 33-year-old woman was forced into a van, held captive and sexually assaulted.
At around 6:00 a.m. on Sunday the police received a report of a woman walking on Ostadestraat and asking bystanders for help. Officers found the woman on the street. She told them that she had been the victim of a sex crime committed by two men.
As more European countries are implementing laws under which sex without explicit consent is considered rape, calls are sounding in the Netherlands to introduce a similar law.
Sweden implemented a law on July 1st which states that you have to ask permission before having sex. If the other person does not give explicit permission, you can be convicted of rape. Earlier this week Spain announced that it will soon introduce a similar law.
The police arrested a 17-year-old boy from Almelo on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a "serious sex crime" that was committed in the vicinity of Kolthofsingel during the early morning hours of May 30th. Exactly what crime the boy is suspected of involvement in, the police did not say.
A 48-year-old person was the victim of the sex crime. An extensive trace evidence investigation was done at and around the scene, and sniffer dogs were used to search for traces.
The investigation led the police to the 17-year-old boy. He was arrested at his home on Wednesday.
The police need to change their approach to handling sexual abuse and human trafficking, according to Merel van Groningen, experience expert and counselor for loverboy victims. Fewer and fewer underage victims come forward because of the police's attitude, she said to the Telegraaf.
"I know of cases of minor loverboy victims who were told by a detective: 'but it was your own fault'. You've lost such a victim", Van Groningen said.
A woman was attacked by a man in Wolfsweide park in Rijen on Wednesday night. The police are looking for witnesses of this "serious sex crime", the police said in a statement.
What happened, was not revealed.
Investigators would like to talk to anyone who noticed anything strange in or around the park between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. People who were in the park are explicitly asked to contact the police.
Dutch detectives are struggling under a massive workload and as a result can only get to a fraction of their tasks, police union NPB says in a new report that will be sent to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday. The Netherlands is turning into a "narco state" where drug trafficking thrives and most criminal groups are left undisturbed, the union warns in the report that NOS has in its position.
The risk of a sex crime convict committing a sex crime again is not well estimated in the Netherlands, Corinne Dettmeijer, the Netherlands' National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence Against Children, said based on a report published on Sunday. According to her, there is a proper international method available to assess the risk of recurrence, and the Netherlands should consider implementing it, ANP reports.
A large part of the Burgemeester van Sonsbeeck park in Breda has been closed off to the public with crime scene tape since 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. A number of police officers are investigating a sex crime in the park, according to the Telegraaf.
Exactly what the officers are looking for, is unclear. To protect the privacy of the victim, the police will not comment on the case.
According to reporter Eva de Schipper, two bicycles can be seen in different areas inside the closed off part of the park. The police are investigating the bushes behind one of the bicycles.
Police in the Netherlands will begin testing suspects held in violent crimes for drug and alcohol use beginning on Saturday when a new law authorizing the additional testing comes into effect. Before a suspect may be tested, police must already have suspicion that the offense was committed under the influence, the government stated.
A 21-year-old Belgian tourist was found murdered on Sint Maarten on Sunday. Wendy Montulet's family sounded the alarm when she did not return from a last jog on the Caribbean island. Her body was found in some bushes after an hours long search
