A foster couple who have been charged with attempting to kill their 10-year-old foster daughter earlier this year are also suspected of abusing other children in their care, the public prosecution department said on Monday.

The half-sister of the girl and three brothers who had been placed with the family in Vlaardingen earlier, are also now said to have been physically abused by the couple. The prosecutor had said at an earlier hearing that other cases were being investigated.

The prosecutor told a pro-forma hearing on Monday that the younger girl had been hit, kicked and made to sit naked in a bucket of her own faeces between the ages of one and three.

Dutch media reported at the weekend that the brothers were Syrian refugees who had fled the war. One of the three boys was moved to a new home at his request after a week, the Telegraaf said. The others, aged five and 10, stayed with the couple for around two months where they were kicked and hit, burned with cigarettes, and locked up in a dog cage.

Stable condition

Meanwhile, the condition of the 10-year-old girl is said to be stable, although she will require intensive care for the rest of her life. She was hospitalised in May and her body was covered with wounds and scars, the court was told.

The girl was placed in the foster home after she and her sister were taken away from their mother, who was also physically abusing them.

The next pro-forma hearing is on February 12 next year. John and Daisy van den B have been in pre-trial detention since May.

Many questions remain about why reports that the boys were being abused were apparently ignored, and why the girl’s own calls for help were not responded too either.

According to the AD, 10 different organisations had been involved in the older girl’s care and an attempt to move her to a new home was halted at the last minute because of disagreements between them.