Trial opens in Belgium against suspects in death of boy, 4, they were babysitting

Dean Verberckmoes - Credit: - License: All Rights Reserved Crime Thursday, 8 October 2026 - 12:50

Nearly five years after four-year-old Belgian Dean Verberckmoes was found dead near Neeltje Jans in Zeeland, the trial against the people who babysat him opened on Thursday in Ghent. Dave De K. is charged with manslaughter and kidnapping resulting in death. His former girlfriend, Romy W, is also a suspect and is charged with complicity in the kidnapping of the little boy.

On Wednesday, January 12, 2022, Dean went to stay with his babysitters in Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium, Dave De K., who was then 39, and Romy W., who was then 29. He and his sister often slept there as their mother was being treated for depression at a facility, RTV Oost reports. That time, De K., did not bring Dean back to his mother, saying he had arranged with the grandparents for the boy to stay longer with the couple, which was not true.

Then on Friday that week, the mother, Elke, was allowed to leave the facility and contacted the couple to pick up her child. She got in touch with Romy, who said Dane drove away with Dean and was going to stop by his parents. Elke did not believe her and called the police on Saturday.

That was when Elke discovered that De K. had previously been convicted of fatally abusing his 2-year-old stepson, which he served a 10-year-prison sentence for in 2010. Belgian police issued an alert for Dean, which had also circulated in the Netherlands.

On Monday, January 17, De K. was arrested in Meerkerk, Utrecht, while heavily under influence. Dean was not with him. De K. refused to say anything at first but later told the police that the boy had fallen down the stairs. That evening he directed the police to a spot near Neeltje Jans, in Zeeland, where Dean’s body was found under a blanket.

Doctors then found more than 50 bruises and severe internal injuries on the boy’s body, which they said did not match a fall down the stairs. Two and a half years later, in May 2024, De K. admitted to severely abusing Dean.

Romy W. was arrested a day later on suspicion of complicity in the kidnapping. Her lawyers are seeking an acquittal, saying that W. was “miles away” from the place where Dean died.

Emeline Vanhooren, the mother’s lawyer, told the Flemish news outlet HLN that her client is approaching the hearing “with fear in her eyes.” If De K. is convicted of manslaughter, he faces up to 30 years in prison. If he is convicted of specifically murder, the punishment can be from 30 years to a life sentence.

The trial will run for the next eight days. Twelve ordinary citizens were selected on Monday to serve as the jury.