# Court: secret placement of three children was unacceptable

> The Breda district court says Veilig Thuis West-Brabant placed three children at a location hidden from their parents without court approval, which the law requires.

Society · published 2026-11-03 09:19 · https://nlnow.nl/a/court-secret-placement-of-three-children-was-unacceptable/

The Breda court has ruled that Veilig Thuis West-Brabant had no right to keep three children, aged around ten, at a holiday chalet in August without court approval. The court said the organisation appears to have removed the children from parental authority, and called this "very worrying and unacceptable".

The rule is clear: a child may be held at a secret location only if a judge decides so. Court approval is needed unless the parents themselves decide that a child should live elsewhere for a while.

Three days after the placement, the mother told two Veilig Thuis staff by phone that she disagreed and wanted her children back. The court held that the organisation should then have let the children go home or obtained court approval. Instead, staff told her the children would stay away for at least two more weeks. Court approval came only four days after the call.

The court found the children were out of the home for at least five days without the consent of the parent with parental authority and of the children's court judge, in breach of the law. The mother's lawyer told the hearing she did agree to the placement at one stage, but had been told her children did not want to come home, which was untrue.

Veilig Thuis had picked the children up because it seriously suspected their stepfather of abuse. At the hearing the court decided they could go home again, under 24-hour supervision.

Veilig Thuis West-Brabant says it takes the ruling "with the utmost seriousness" and always reflects on its own role. It declined to discuss its considerations, citing privacy.

## Background

- **Veilig Thuis**: Veilig Thuis is the Dutch name for the regional advice and reporting centres for domestic violence and child abuse, with one centre per region. Anyone who is worried about a child or an adult in a violent or unsafe home can contact them for advice or report a concern. Veilig Thuis assesses each report, can start an investigation, and arranges help, and it can ask the juvenile court to take protective measures when a child is at risk.

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