Suspected swimming pool intern (20) was associated with many associations: 'It seemed as if he could perform magic, everything just worked out'

Amsterdam - The swimming pool intern suspected of raping eleven young children came to the Netherlands from Haiti as a child, where his adoptive parents raised him. He was involved with numerous organizations and regularly excelled.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, twenty-year-old JL abused fourteen children between the ages of 4 and 6 during swimming lessons between the end of August and the beginning of December last year in Zelhem, Gelderland.

According to the indictment, eleven victims were raped, as emerged on Tuesday during an initial preliminary hearing in the Zutphen court.

L. turns out to be an athletic young man. He was involved with several clubs in his region, such as the Achilles gymnastics club in Hengelo. He was already a great talent as a young teenager. A local media outlet wrote about the athletic young man after a competition: "J. was in top form that day; it was as if he could perform magic. Everything just worked out."

A source at De Telegraaf reports that he later also started working as a coach at the club. As far as we know, there are no reports of abuse at this gymnastics club.

Active in numerous sports

L. was already very active in numerous sports in his youth. In 2019, he proudly posed in full diving gear with compressed air tanks among other teenagers who obtained their diving certifications at the local diving school. According to the accompanying text, L. is one of the club's "junior explorers": "We are proud of these heroes and heroines." 

His interest in sports is also evident in an anecdote his mother shared on LinkedIn. In a post about her son, she writes: "My 20-year-old adopted son just told me in vivid detail that he was 'so well integrated.'"

“He was so well integrated”

Mother of suspect JL

He was working in a sports hall at the time. "They told him that, while they were watching a volleyball match. 'They thought I spoke good Dutch.' He chuckled: 'They all voted PVV, but it wasn't about me. I was okay.' He put on his jacket. 'Bye, I have to go to the sports hall, work!'"

Also affiliated with scouting association

He was also affiliated with the David G. Alford Scouting Association from Vorden. A photo from that time shows him as a 14-year-old scout, posing reclining, in scout gear and glasses. He's giving a thumbs-up because he's one of the more than 800 Dutch scouts who will then participate in the World Scout Jamboree. JL participated with four others under the name "De Stroopwafels."

On Omroep Gelderland, a shocked swimming pool director, Erik Weening, described the suspect as a "very enthusiastic" young man. "I've had parents on the phone who said, 'He was such a great intern. My son and daughter are sad he's gone.'"

The director said he had denied the intern access to the pool. However, the pool still wants to train interns in the future: "They have to learn the trade, after all."

At large

L. has not been in custody since January. The pre-trial chamber suspended his pre-trial detention. Defense lawyers question this decision. Normally, rape suspects remain in pre-trial detention for much longer.