According to the Dutch commercial TV broadcaster, RTL, the swimming instructor in the southern town of Den Bosch suspected of sexually abusing his pupils, was already abusing girls in the 1980s.

In RTL's evening news on Wednesday, two women related how they had been sexually abused as teenagers by Benno Larue when they were 12 and 18 years old. The mother of one of the girls reported the incident much later in 1996, but, as the limitation period for the crime had expired, the police didn't launch an investigation.

A new complaint against Larue was lodged in 2004, but legislation protecting the privacy of the suspect prevented the police from using evidence from the 1996 file. On 7 June this year, the police received concrete information which led to the arrest of Larue. Ten of thousands of photographs of girls between the ages of 6 and 16 were discovered at his home. The 59-year-old instructor, who owns a swimming pool specialising in lessons for the mentally disabled and children with a fear of water, has been taken into custody for three months.

The limitation period for sexual abuse crimes has been extended since the 1996 case. Both the ruling Christian Democrats party and the rightwing Freedom Party want the Lower House to extend it even further.
 

photo by Ed.ward (Flickr)