Can you imagine how the boys in this village felt? Can you imagine the number of adult males who are struggling with the impact of their being sexually assaulted? Knowing that the village didn't seem to care about them? Or the impact of what was happening in their lives because of this man. I suspect that he helped to create more pedophiles by his actions. I applaud the two boys for coming forward and helping to protect future victims. They should be very proud of themselves. I am hoping they aren't being ostracized because of the press that has been brought to their village. God bless them and the other victims. Rosie
Published on : 4 March 2012 - 7:58am |
The Netherlands has been rocked by another sex
abuse scandal. This week a 60-year-old man from the village of
Westkapelle in Zeeland admitted to sexually abusing around 100 boys over
the past 30 years. He was arrested last September after two victims pressed charges. The most striking thing about the case is that the whole village knew that Joost committed illicit sexual acts with young adolescents, but everyone kept quiet about it. The coastal village of Westkapelle in the south of the Netherlands is home to around 2,700 people. In this strongly Christian community, “Little Joost” — as he was known to the locals — abused boys for decades and with impunity. In the outspoken Netherlands, nothing stays secret for long, but here everyone held their tongue. Until, that is, the two boys went to the police last year. The authorities are now working on the assumption that they were two among many. The acts committed include all kinds of sexual abuse, except for penetration.
Sex abuse cases that shocked the Netherlands
Swimming instructor
Benno Larue was the owner of a swimming school in the town of Den Bosch. When the case came to light in 2009, he was linked to almost 100 instances of sexual abuse with children between the ages of 6 and 16.
In 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison on two charges of sexual assault, 33 charges of sexual abuse, possession of child pornography and taking clandestine photographs of children.
Child care worker
Robert Mikelsons, born in Latvia, worked at a number of child care centres in Amsterdam. In late 2010 he was charged with dozens of cases of serious sexual abuse of very young children and distributing child pornography on a large scale. Legal proceedings are ongoing.
Roman Catholic Church
Following a storm of media coverage regarding sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, Germany and Ireland, the lid was lifted on a similar scandal in the Netherlands.
The wave of admissions and accusations was largely prompted by publications in daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad and by Radio Netherlands Worldwide. It resulted in an independent Commission of Inquiry being set up at the request of the Church authorities.
The inquiry concluded that since World War II, thousands of children were sexually abused by an estimated 800 perpetrators within the Roman Catholic Church.
Everyone in the village knew that Joost treated boys to cola, beer or money in exchange for sexual contact. Everyone warned their own children to stay away from him.
“It wasn’t taken that seriously around here,” says resident Marleen Man in 't Veld, echoing the prevailing view among the villagers. It was common knowledge. “A veil was drawn over his behaviour. It wasn’t a big issue.”
An elderly male resident puts it differently. “It had been simmering away for such a very long time. He wasn’t a rapist, like that Robert Mikelsons in Amsterdam [see box]. That was much worse.”
Yet everyone knew that Joost had already spent two months in prison and had undergone therapy for sexual abuse.
"He's bad news!"
Mothers in the village all knew the stories. “He couldn’t keep his hands to himself and he bribed younger boys with sweets, money and soft drinks. He bought beer for the teenagers.”
One mother says “It’s been like that for 25 or 30 years, maybe longer.” Another adds “You warned your children not to go with him. Stay away from Joost! He’s bad news!”
Nevertheless, the women are surprised that no one reported him when he’d had his way with so many children. One mother mentions shame, another the fear of being shunned by such a close-knit community. A third woman thinks that people were afraid of being seen as bad parents if word got out that their child had been abused.
Dirty laundry
One woman gives a different explanation: “People sorted it out for themselves. If word got out, a father went to see Joost and said ‘keep your hands off my son or I’ll strangle you’. And Joost would do as he was told. Plenty of folk tackled it that way.”
It appears that the villagers do not want to air their dirty laundry in public. According to Mayor Rob van der Zwaag, the culture of silence is not so much due to the village’s strong Christian beliefs but to village culture in general. “Social cohesion is strong,” he said in an interview with Dutch current affairs programme Nieuwsuur. “That can be a strong positive force, but in this case it turned out bad.”
But he is adamant that village did not simply “turn a blind eye”, pointing out that people went out of their way to warn each another about Joost’s behaviour.
Warnings
Only 25 people attended an information session organised by the authorities this week. Many of the concerns raised were about the image of the village.
Resident Wim Boogaard says “It’s not true that we didn’t do anything. It’s not like we were there when these things happened. We couldn’t prove anything. We warned our children, just like I was warned when I was younger.”
Victim support hotline
Among those at the meeting was one victim from the 1960s. The Mayor says the man gave a moving statement, though it will have no effect on the case against Joost, as the abuse took place too long ago.
The Municipal Health Service opened a victim support hotline this week. So far only a handful of calls have been received. A spokeswoman says “It’s a fairly closed community. In general people try to solve their problems themselves or with each other. They tend not to seek outside help.” The case against Joost comes to trial on 10 May.
(dd/rk/ae)
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