HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Prosecutors on Thursday asked a Dutch court to drop the case against a 68-year-old father accused of isolating and abusing his own children, who were sidelined for years in a control remote masia.
The case caught global attention in 2019 when police discovered the father with six of his children in a hidden room of the farmhouse in the east of the Netherlands after a son sounded the alarm.
In a preview in January last year, prosecutors portrayed the father as a deeply religious man who saw his family as “chosen by God” and did everything in his power, including physical beatings and other punishments, to prevent them from succumbing to what he considered malignant external influences. .
Prosecutors say the man, identified only as Gerrit Jan van D. under Dutch privacy rules, has been severely disqualified for a 2016 stroke. Continuing the case would violate his right to a fair trial, as he does not he can defend himself, prosecutors said.
As they asked the judges to stop the case, prosecutors said their efforts and those of the police had served a useful purpose in freeing the family.
“We took the youngest children out of what was then a strange and insecure situation. And throughout the research, we gave them something that they did not have before: a real existence in our society through their registration in the personal register, but what is more important: the freedom of choice ”.
The six children who remained on the farm are now all young adults. Three older brothers had previously abandoned the isolated life of the family. His mother died in 2004.
Prosecutors acknowledged that their decision would be tough for the children who escaped isolation and informed investigators “of terrible things they endured.”
Prosecutors claimed that while the case against the father is over, now all children can choose their own future, even if that means returning to isolation with their sick father.
“In the last 18 months, children have come to know our society, been able to participate in it, and have received spiritual and medical care,” they said. “Yes, now that they have been able to try the alternative, they decide, however, to want to live in isolation again with their father, to exercise their faith … this is their choice.”