Church youth choir leader suspected of sexually assaulting at least one girl

A 39-year-old woman from Elspeet is facing prosecution for sexually abusing at least one child. The woman is the former director of the youth choir at the Gereformeerde Gemeente church in Elspeet and the daughter of the pastor, who reportedly knew about the situation, De Stentor discovered.

In September last year, a young woman from Elspeet went to the police to report that the suspect sexually assaulted her in the spring of 2024, when she was 17 years old. The victim was a member of the church choir led by the suspect. During the investigation, another woman came forward, saying that the choir director sexually assaulted her when she was a child.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed to De Stentor that it was preparing a criminal case against the woman in connection with this second report. She is “suspected of the sexual assault of a minor, committed in 2007,” the OM said. The OM decided to not pursue prosecution in the 2024 case.

The situation has caused great unrest in the church community, with several congregants arguing that the pastor must have known about what his daughter was doing. During a meeting in June, church officials acknowledged that the pastor had made poor judgments, precisely because it involved his daughter, De Stentor reported, based on audio recordings from that evening. The recording also revealed that several families have left the congregation and a member of the church council resigned due to the situation.

A spokesperson for the church council told De Stentor that the matter is being handled further through “internal church procedures.” He declined to provide further details. According to De Stentor, neither the pastor nor his daughter responded to its questions.