1950s’ Child Deaths Investigated in Netherlands

Did you think the international child abuse crisis couldn’t get any worse? Apparently it could.

The Wall Street Journal reports: “Dutch authorities said Tuesday they were investigating possible murders at a Catholic institution for psychiatrically ill boys during the 1950s. A total of 34 children under the age of 18 died at St. Joseph’s boys’ school in Heel, in the south of the Netherlands, between the beginning of 1952 and the end of 1954. Annual enrollment in the institution at the time was around 60.

“The Catholic church in Western Europe has been rocked recently by findings of sexual abuse of minors. Churches, schools and institutions, especially in Ireland and Germany, have been scenes for many such crimes. But these possible murders, if found to be true, would form a unique case.”

The wave of deaths ended in 1955. Although the Dutch currently maintain no statute of limitation on homicide, the Netherlands did back when these possible crimes were committed. That means no one can be criminally prosecuted even though Dutch authorities say some suspects are still alive.