The Murder of Savannah Dekker

Savannah Dekker was 14 when she met a 17-year-old boy from Den Bosch in Bunschoten on June 1, 2017. They had known each other largely through online contact. Three days later, a passerby found Savannah's body in a ditch near the park where the two had met.

The meeting in Bunschoten

According to the Midden-Nederland District Court's 2018 account, Savannah and the boy had arranged to meet on June 1. Their relationship had developed mainly online and included periods of conflict. They went to a small park near the De Kronkels industrial area and continued communicating with others on social media while they were together.

Savannah sent her final message at about 2:50 p.m. Twenty-five minutes later, witnesses saw the boy leave the park alone on Savannah's bicycle. Her disappearance triggered a search, and on June 4 her body was discovered in a nearby ditch.

The prosecution and juvenile trial

The defendant was a minor when Savannah was killed. The court therefore handled the case under juvenile criminal law and did not publicly identify him. Crime by Region follows the same approach.

On July 13, 2018, the Midden-Nederland District Court convicted the 17-year-old of killing Savannah. The court imposed the maximum juvenile detention term of two years and a PIJ measure, often described as juvenile TBS, requiring placement in a treatment institution.

Why the sentence included compulsory treatment

The PIJ measure was not a substitute for the conviction. It was a treatment and public-safety measure imposed in addition to the juvenile detention sentence. The court considered psychiatric and psychological evidence when deciding that long-term treatment was necessary.

Over the following years, the court repeatedly reviewed and extended the PIJ measure. In May 2021, it was extended for another two years. A further extension followed, and in November 2024 the court added six months as the maximum unconditional PIJ term approached its end.

Conversion to adult TBS in 2025

On May 27, 2025, the Midden-Nederland District Court converted the juvenile PIJ measure into adult TBS with compulsory treatment. By then the offender was 24. The court said the maximum six-year unconditional PIJ period had expired but that expert assessments still found a high risk of serious reoffending if treatment stopped.

The 2025 decision changed the legal framework for continuing treatment; it did not overturn or reopen the underlying murder conviction. The defendant remains the person judicially convicted of killing Savannah.

Current status

This case is solved and adjudicated. The offender was convicted while still a juvenile and received the maximum juvenile detention term together with compulsory psychiatric treatment. Later proceedings concerned how that treatment should continue, not whether the conviction remained valid.

The case also shows why reporting on juvenile offenders requires care: the court record provides enough information to explain the investigation and legal outcome without publishing an identity that official sources protect.

Timeline

1. June 1, 2017
   Savannah meets the 17-year-old boy

   They meet in Bunschoten and go to a park near the De Kronkels industrial area.

2. June 4, 2017
   Savannah's body is found

   A passerby discovers the 14-year-old in a ditch near the park.

3. July 13, 2018
   Juvenile conviction

   The court convicts the boy and imposes two years of juvenile detention plus a PIJ treatment measure.

4. 2021–2024
   PIJ treatment is extended

   The court continues the measure after periodic reviews of treatment progress and risk.

5. May 27, 2025
   PIJ converted to adult TBS

   The court orders TBS with compulsory treatment because it finds that substantial reoffending risk remains if treatment ends.