“Minors should be spared from criminal behavior, need protection, should go to school, and grow up safely instead of robbing stores,” states the Public Prosecution Service today in court in Arnhem. The prosecutor demands 42 months of imprisonment, of which 12 are conditional with a probation period of 3 years, against a 36-year-old suspect of Irish nationality. He used children – the youngest only nine years old – to commit a large number of shoplifting offenses.
Camera footage shows how the suspect gives instructions to the minors on which products to steal from stores. Staff are distracted, items are handed over and stuffed into jackets and/or bags, and the individuals leave the stores without paying. In this way, on a large scale, especially toothbrush heads and anti-smoking products such as nicotine patches are taken from various locations across the country. Each time, the value amounts to hundreds of euros.
Following a shoplifting incident in Ede, a group of suspects comes into focus last year. Footage shows how the suspect last August in Apeldoorn and Gorssel used the nine-year-old. Several reports come in to the police, along with the footage. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the suspect can also be recognized as the person who committed shoplifting offenses in places like Dieren, Putten, and Doetinchem, and nine offenses in the province of Zeeland. The nine thefts in Zeeland were committed by the suspect together with a 16-year-old boy. Each time, the same method was used.
On September 3, the man is arrested at a campsite in Zeeland. The public prosecutor stated today in court in Arnhem: “Because a very young child was used in at least three shoplifting incidents, it was decided to enlist the publics help through the TV program Opsporing Verzocht to find the whereabouts of the suspect and the boy. This quickly led to the suspects arrest.”
In the caravan where he was staying, travel bags filled with large quantities of toothbrush heads, nicotine sprays, patches, and razors were found. The suspects physical characteristics match those of the person on the security footage. The same applies to the clothing items found.
In addition to the nine-year-old boy, a sixteen-year-old boy is also involved in some of these thefts. The Public Prosecution Service considers it serious that the suspect infringes on the mental integrity of children in this way. The suspicion against him is theft, but also criminal exploitation and thus human trafficking. “The suspects actions constitute a violation of the fundamental rights of the child. And thus, the intent of exploitation is a given.”