Nukerke (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Inhumane videos of residents were also made in a residential care centre in Nukerke near Maarkedal, in the province of East Flanders. The number of care institutions in this case is 4.
The videos, recorded at a residential care centre in Nukerke, near Maarkedal in East Flanders, were inhumane and the latest in a series of abuse scandals which have led to four institutions being implicated. Police presented six screenshots to the director of the Residential Care Center De Samaritan, who confirmed the incident, as two residents were affected. Both victims were so advanced in dementia that they couldn’t comprehend or tell anyone about the abuse.
Taken by an intern in September 2023 at vulnerable moments, the footage showed mocking and filming the residents. The arrested intern, who had been placed for 10 days as part of the broader case, gave no indication of worrying behaviour. They clarified, however, that the abuse had been psychological, not physical.
“It concerns people who are in a dementia process, who are not resilient and who do not realise what happened and could not report it either”, says director Wim Wijbaillie.
“The police have explicitly emphasized to us that this is not about physical abuse. It is about ridiculing the two residents, filming those people while they are struggling.”
“During that internship period, there was no signal or reason to suspect that something could be wrong. There were no comments about that internship.”
All employees and residents and their families have also been informed and the director emphasizes that they are fully cooperating with the investigation.
“Everyone who works here is deeply affected by the facts,”
the director adds.
“We are going to file a civil suit.”
The Department of Care was also informed.
What is the background of the abuse scandal in flemish care homes?
Videos and pictures showing vulnerable residents in residential care centres being abused in different Flemish facilities came to light after police uncovered the abuse scandal. An 18-year-old student worker was arrested in connection with a theft case in Meerspoort, Oudenaarde, and the investigation began there.
The videos were found of its residents being beaten, spat on, and humiliated while it was recorded on his phone. Seven victims have already been identified in this facility alone. It grew a case when similar abuse was reported in De Branding (Kortrijk), with a 21 year old woman being a student worker, and also in Het Mariahuis (Gavere) where six residents were identified in photos taken in a compromising situation. The latest case of dementia patients being filmed by an intern at De Samaritan (Nukerke) while doing a 10-day internship in September 2023.
Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) is looking into the case, which has now stretched to four institutions and more than one suspect, including student workers. The gap in supervision in care homes has been raised by the revelations, including short-term interns. Some cases include physical abuse, others are psychological humiliation, police confirm. Authorities continue to investigate the extent of the scandal.
