# Man, 57, arrested over 1994 rape of deaf girl

> Police arrested a 57-year-old man from Helmond after re-examined evidence matched his DNA, 32 years after a 15-year-old deaf girl was raped in Sint-Michielsgestel.

Society · published 2026-10-30 16:17 · https://nlnow.nl/a/dna-match-leads-to-arrest-in-1994-rape-case/

A 57-year-old man from Helmond has been arrested on suspicion of raping a 15-year-old girl in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel in 1994. The police cold case team traced him 32 years later through a DNA match.

The girl was deaf and partially sighted. On the evening of 30 May 1994 she was waiting with other children at a riding stable for transport back to the deaf institute where she stayed. The man is suspected of pulling her into a car, raping her in a wooded area nearby and letting her out near her home.

Traces secured at the time were sent to the forensic laboratory but did not lead to a concrete suspect. They were kept for possible further investigation. Detectives recently asked the NFI, the former forensic laboratory, to examine them again. That produced a match with the man.

His DNA profile was already in the national DNA database because of another offence. On Friday he appeared before the examining magistrate (rechter-commissaris), who ordered that he be held for another fourteen days. Police are still investigating the 32-year-old sex offence.

## Background

- **NFI (Nederlands Forensisch Instituut)**: The Netherlands Forensic Institute is the national state laboratory that carries out forensic investigations of traces such as DNA, fingerprints and firearms. It analyses material from crime scenes and compares DNA profiles, including against the national DNA database, on request of the police and the Public Prosecution Service. Its findings are used as evidence in criminal investigations and trials.
- **rechter-commissaris**: The examining magistrate is a judge at a Dutch district court who supervises the investigation phase of a criminal case. The rechter-commissaris rules on coercive measures during the investigation, such as pre-trial detention and its extensions, and on requests from the public prosecutor for investigative powers that intrude on privacy or liberty. The examining magistrate does not decide guilt; that is for the trial court.

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