On Monday, the assize court in Ghent, Belgium – a special panel that handles the most serious crimes – sentenced Dave De K., 39, to 30 years in prison for the abduction and murder of Flemish toddler Dean, whom he was babysitting, in January 2022, NOS reports. The body of the 4-year-old was found on January 17, 2022, in bushes of the former construction island of Neeltje Jans in the Dutch province of Zeeland. De K.’s former girlfriend, Romy W., was previously acquitted of attempted abduction of the toddler.
His former Dutch girlfriend Romy W, 29, from Sint Jansteen, was acquitted by the jury last Friday for kidnapping that resulted in a death due to a lack of evidence and reasonable doubt about her knowledge of De K.’s actions. She was, however, found guilty of possessing and distributing child sex abuse materials.
In imposing the sentence, the judge followed the public prosecutor’s recommendation of a 30-year prison term. De K. must serve at least 25 years of that sentence. After the prison term, he will be subject to a 15-year period of additional supervision. The judge stated that he saw no mitigating circumstances in De K.’s case.
“You have committed horrific acts,” the judge told De K. The man had previously served a sentence for killing another toddler in 2008. “You have taken the lives of two young children. I think you understand why such a severe sentence is being imposed. You will be in prison for a long time. I hope you find your place there.”
De K. was also found guilty of possessing images of child sexual abuse, which were not of Dean. Investigators found the images – which dated from roughly a year earlier – on his phone after he received them in an online chat. He was acquitted of distributing the material, as the jury found it unproven that he had sent it to anyone.
Romy allegedly found the images on De K.’s phone and took screenshots, which she forwarded to her phone in order to confront him, she said. W. received a suspended sentence with probation conditions for five years for the child-abuse images. She will serve no prison sentence provided she commits no criminal offenses during that period and complies with the conditions. Among other requirements, she must undergo treatment for her alcohol addiction and receive mandatory guidance in raising her young child. W. gave birth while in pre-trial detention, which lasted nearly five years.
“You are being given another chance,” the judge told W. “Take it. Leave alcohol and other drugs behind and build a good life with your child.”
De K. has admitted that, during a fit of rage, he repeatedly struck the boy whom he had been babysitting with W inside his car. According to De K.’s account, Dean died hours later, after he had driven with him to Zeeland.
De K. abducted Dean on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, from the Belgian town of Sint-Niklaas. He is said to have had an argument with W. beforehand, who was friends with Dean’s mother. The boy frequently stayed with the couple, while Dean’s mom was getting psychiatric treatment for depression.
De K. was arrested the following Monday in Meerkerk, in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Dean was not found with him. The boy’s body was discovered later that day near Neeltje Jans in Zeeland.
De K. had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the abuse and death of a two-year-old toddler. He was released in 2018. That prison had unsuccessfully requested that De K. be placed in a psychiatric institution at the time he was there.
