A man who had kidnapped his own son has been sentenced to two years in prison.
He may also not contact the mother of his child for five years. The court decided this yesterday. He had snatched the then eight-year-old son in 2018.
He then fled with him to Spain. Police found the boy seven months later in Barcelona. The boy’s mother, friends and family had no contact with him in all that time.
Stress and grief
“That must’ve caused [his mother] tremendous distress and grief,” the court said. There was no sign of the Dad. He was arrested earlier this year in the Netherlands.
The man had hoped to gain custody of his son. That was after the courts had convicted the mother of threatening him with a knife. He didn’t get custody, and the little boy was placed out of the home.
The prosecutor had wanted a five-year jail term for the man. His lawyer hoped that the judge would consider that he’d acted in his minor child’s interest and safety. However, during his stay abroad, the boy didn’t attend school.
Guilty
He was in a foreign environment; he didn’t speak the language and had little contact with his peers. The court found the man guilty of ‘withdrawing legal authority’ and therefore sentenced him to two years in prison.
Three others helped the father with the abduction or failed to report it to the authorities. They got two weeks, one month and nine months, respectively.
Source: OmroepBrabant
Translator: Melinda Walraven
