The Public Prosecution Service of North Holland has demanded a prison sentence of two and a half years against a 33-year-old man from Schagen. The prosecution believes it has proven that on August 12, 2022, he pushed his genitals into the mouth and throat of a 21-year-old unconscious woman, resulting in her death by suffocation.
112 Call
On August 12, 2022, at 01:34 AM, a man called the 112 emergency number, telling the operator: ‘She was on me, we were having an erotic evening. She had been drinking. I dont know. Shes not breathing anymore?’ Shortly after this call, police and ambulance personnel arrived. The man told various police officers present that the woman turned blue during oral sex, that she was not breathing anymore, and that he started resuscitation. The man was arrested on suspicion of sexual penetration of an unconscious person – supplemented with ‘resulting in death’, after the victim died in the hospital.
Investigation
At the request of the prosecution, the police initiated an investigation focusing on whether there was sexual penetration; whether the victim was in a state of diminished consciousness at that time; whether the suspect knew or could know this; and whether his actions caused her death. The prosecutor in court stated: ‘’Based on the evidence, it is clear to the prosecution that the suspect sexually penetrated the victim while she was unconscious on the couch, by bringing his genitals into her throat, resulting in her inability to receive oxygen and her subsequent death.’’
Evidence
The evidence includes forensic findings, witness statements, videos from that evening, and statements from the suspect.
The suspect made multiple detailed, specific, and consistent statements to various police officers, describing that there was sexual penetration (his genitals in the victims mouth), shortly before the victim needed resuscitation. A police officer also heard the suspect that night shouting to his mother: ‘If she dies, its your fault, Im too well endowed, you did this. He was in her mouth and then she choked.’ After these initial statements, the suspect denied his involvement in the victims death during police questioning. He claimed that the oral sex had occurred a few hours earlier that evening and that after the oral sex, she had performed various actions, such as smoking and walking. However, the prosecution attaches significant evidentiary value to his first spontaneous statements, as they were not discussed or fabricated but were made primarily and therefore credible.
Additionally, the suspects statements during police questioning do not match the videos found on the suspects phone, which he had sent to an acquaintance. From those images, the condition of the victim can be timed: she was unable to perform complex actions from 00:30 until the moment she needed resuscitation. This is supported by statements from the suspect in the videos, that the woman was ‘unconscious’ and ‘not doing much tonight’. The prosecutor stated: ‘’She lay on the couch in a state of diminished consciousness, and the suspect knew that there was virtually total passivity in the victim. It also appears from the toxicological report that she had a significant amount of alcohol in her system.’’
Furthermore, the autopsy report from the pathologist indicates that it is more likely that the victim died from suffocation than from the alcohol she had consumed that evening. Therefore, the prosecution is convinced that the suspect orally penetrated her shortly before or even at the time the victim needed resuscitation, while she was in a state of diminished consciousness, after which she turned blue and stopped breathing.
Sentence Demand
‘’The suspect abused the helplessness of the victim. He prioritized his own (sexual) needs and did not care about the victim, who was clearly no longer able to determine her will. His lack of awareness of the severity of his behavior is also evident from the many videos the suspect made and shared. They portray a man who completely controls the situation that night. It goes as he wants. He is nine years older than she is, and there was a certain degree of dependency. She was vulnerable and damaged. And he ‘took care’ of her,’ said the prosecutor. According to the prosecution, the suspects behavior that night led to the death of the 21-year-old woman. The prosecutor demanded an unconditional prison sentence of thirty months.
The court is expected to rule on July 24