Spijkenisse – The police have made a breakthrough in two unsolved crimes from 2008. Through new research options using DNA, a match was found with a 30-year-old man. He has been arrested and is suspected of one sex offense and one count of attempt. The crimes were both committed in Spijkenisse at the time. The suspect was arrested in a TBS clinic, where he is serving a sentence for a similar crime he committed in Belgium.
Despite extensive police investigations, the cases were not solved in 2008. A number of detectives from the vice police of the Rotterdam Investigations unit investigate so-called cold case cases on behalf of the Public Prosecution Service. The team analyzes unsolved serious crimes in search of new information. They use new technical and tactical options in the hope of still reaching a suspect.
Breakthrough through new research and new techniques
A breakthrough occurred in one of the two cases, partly because a collective DNA collection took place among convicted TBS prisoners in the first half of this year. This decrease revealed a match between one case in 2008 and a 30-year-old man. “This would have been impossible if there had not been enormous investments in new DNA techniques. The traces from the cases in 2008 have been re-examined this year, with these new techniques, so that these traces could now also be linked to the 30-year-old suspect,” said one of the vice detectives working on this investigation. The other case from 2008 had previously been linked to the other sexual offense due to the same conduct and description. “Perpetrators of serious sexual offenses should not go unpunished. We do everything we can to arrest a suspect. That this has now been achieved and that we could inform the victims that we have them; that’s what we do it for.” The suspect was 15 years old when he committed these crimes.
Permanent damage
Victims of sexual crimes are often scarred for life. Feelings of sadness, fear, pain and shame are in the foreground. A vice detective spoke to one of the victims in 2008: “She indicated that things went very badly for her after the sexual offence. She could not give it a place and did not know what to do with her feelings. She went back to live with her parents and She still suffers from the consequences to this day. For example, she panics when she cycles in the dark.” The other victim from 2008 also has the same problems after what happened to her. “She is also afraid of the dark, for example, shadows. She is afraid that someone will come after her. Fortunately, her environment and the Sexual Violence Center are around her and offer her permanent help.”
This case was worked on by, among others, the Vice Team, the cold case team, forensic investigation and the Dutch Forensic Institute.
Report it if you are a victim
The police remain committed to tackling unsolved cases and apprehending perpetrators of crimes. It is therefore very important that a victim always reports the crime. It is precisely those reports that led to this arrest in this case. For more information, click on the link below: https://www.politie.nl/informatie/wat-geevent-er-als-ik-melding-doe-van-sexual- Abuse.html.
The suspect was brought before the examining magistrate last Thursday. He decided that the suspect was remanded in custody.
Information source: Politie.nl
