MAASTRICHT - A seven-year prison sentence was demanded yesterday before the court in Maastricht against the 42-year-old founder/owner of the Heerlen-based, private daycare agency PuberEnZo for, among other things, sexual abuse of two minors entrusted to his care.
It emerged during the trial that cab driver Marcel T. of Heerlen had been an official foster parent for nearly 15 years. The Provision for Foster Care, which placed 15 foster children with him in toetaal during those years, severed ties with T. in 2005, after dishes about the Heerlen man "in the sexual area," said court president Theo Oostdijk.

Foster care doubted the man's "motivation" to foster children after he posted "sexual calls" on the Internet, the court said.

"So when that agency stopped providing you with children, you just started for yourself?" Inquired Oostdijk, referring to the creation of PuberEnZo. No, said T., who acknowledged that Foster Care broke with him because there was "noise" following complaints about him sexually: "That was a little earlier." PuberEnZo he founded in 2004. When asked why he took on caring for problem children, he replied, "Because I wanted to. I've always been involved with children." However, he never had any relevant training in this field, he told the court.

For prosecutor Van Kuppehoven it is established that in 2005 and 2006 T. abused his position as a social worker. He also based his demand of seven years on the, according to him, proven rape of an 18-year-old, possession of large amounts of child pornography and threats with a firearm. Other than possession of child pornography and possession of a firearm, T. denied everything in court.

According to the prosecution, he caressed and groped two underage clients (ages 11 and 16) when they were entrusted to his care by their parents and lived with him temporarily. They, naked slept in bed with him. T. also allegedly did not leave them alone when they showered. The elder has said, "I had nothing and no one at that time. Marcel was all I had. I had nowhere to go."