Public prosecutor wants to bring childcare worker who shook baby in Mariakerke to court of assize for manslaughter

In 2022, a 6-month-old baby died in ‘t Sloeberhuisje. The hospital notified the court because the baby had suffered serious brain trauma under unclear circumstances. The autopsy later showed that the girl died from the so-called ‘shaken baby syndrome’. She was said to have been shaken by the manageress’s father, who worked there as a childcare worker.

After more than 2 years of investigation, the public prosecutor’s office has completed a final claim. According to judicial sources, the public prosecutor’s office wants to prosecute the father for manslaughter and bring him to the court of assizes, writes Het Nieuwsblad. That would mean that the man who worked as a childcare worker deliberately killed the baby. According to his lawyer Kris Vincke, that was not the case.

“The decision of the public prosecutor’s office has surprised us. My client never had the intention to kill the baby. It was an accident. I think the public prosecutor’s office wants to send a signal with this decision. Because this accident has exposed malpractice in other daycare centers That also received a lot of press attention.”