No new evidence senior official abused boys, public prosecutor says

The public prosecution department wants to halt investigations into claims of child abuse made against a former top civil servant at the justice ministry.

Joris Demmink has been dogged by allegations that he abused minors for years but new investigations into the claims have not turned up any additional evidence, the department said in a statement on Thursday.

One investigation was ordered by judges in The Hague in 2014. It centred on claims that Demmink was involved in raping two under-age boys in Turkey between 1995 and 1997.

Evidence

However, the investigation has ‘not delivered any incriminatory evidence to suggest Demmink was involved in the alleged rapes’, the statement said.

Turkey refused to cooperate with the inquiry.

A second investigation into claims that Demmink used boy prostitutes heard evidence from several witnesses earlier this month. That investigation has not turned up any evidence that Demmink was involved in ‘criminal acts’ either, the department said.

The hearings were part of preliminary interviews for a civil case brought by a former boy prostitute who claims he was abused by Joris Demmink and other highly placed officials involved in a child prostitution ring in the 1980s.