Forest boy Ray

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The Dutchman Robin van Helsum (born April 22, 1992 in Hengelo , Netherlands ) gained prominence in German and international media as the forest boy Ray or forest man Ray , sometimes also called " Kaspar Hauser von Berlin " . The 20-year-old man posed to the Berlin authorities for nine months as an orphan underage who had lived with him in the woods for years until his father's death. In June 2012 his true identity could be clarified and his previous statements refuted.

Finding

On September 5, 2011, van Helsum reported to the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin. His name was "Ray" and his date of birth was June 20, 1994. He also said he lived in the woods with his father for five years. His mother, Doreen, was killed in a car accident. The father died weeks ago in a fall in the wild and was buried there by himself. The boy described as 1.80 m tall, blond, athletic and with blue eyes had little knowledge of German, but could make himself understood in good English.

"Ray", whose story was initially considered credible, was then handed over to the Berlin youth welfare office . This ordered a guardianship and took him on in an assisted living community in Berlin.

Wanted man and doubt

The cooperation between the Berlin police and Interpol could not provide any new information about the true identity of "Ray". The lack of deficiency symptoms and the well-groomed condition of the boy when he was found left doubts about his story. The search for the alleged grave of the father took place unsuccessfully on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains and in Austria .

The Berlin police published photos of "Waldjunge Ray" on June 12, 2012 with the consent of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Youth Welfare Office and asked the population to help in the case.

True identity

On June 15, 2012, the Berlin police published a press release that the identity of "Ray" had been clarified. In a picture published on Dutch television, he was recognized by a friend. A relative finally identified him as the 20-year-old former secondary school student Robin van Helsum from the Dutch city of Hengelo , who had dropped out of his education. Van Helsum was reported missing to the police by his parents on September 2, 2011. His father died a few months after van Helsum's disappearance in February 2012, and his mother was still alive. Since the Berlin police were looking for an alleged minor via Interpol, the missing person report was not dealt with. Confronted with the results of the investigation, "Ray" admitted to being Robin van Helsum and to having invented his previous information.

After the fraud was discovered, the German authorities prepared legal steps against the man; Among other things, his nine-month stay in Berlin had cost around 30,000 euros. However, the fraud proceedings were dropped before the juvenile court at the end of September 2013. However, the 21-year-old was instructed to do 150 hours of community service. The reason for the discontinuation was that the damage to the taxpayer was minor. If the homeless man at the time had stated his true age, he would have been supported as an adult with benefits of a similar amount.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Aschbacher, Alexandra; Menden, Alexander: Riddle about "Forest Boys" from Berlin: It came out of nowhere at sueddeutsche.de, June 15, 2012 (accessed June 15, 2012).
  2. ↑ Braun, Stuart; Evans, Martin: German police baffled by case of English-speaking boy with no identity at guardian.co.uk, September 16, 2012 (accessed June 16, 2012).
  3. ^ Wiener, Aaron: Feral child exposed as Dutchman's hoax . In: Los Angeles Times , June 16, 2012, p. 3.
  4. ↑ Vampouille, Thomas; Jamet, Constance Jamet: L '"enfant sauvage" de Berlin avait tout inventé at lefigaro.fr, June 15, 2012 (accessed June 16, 2012).
  5. ↑ a b N.N., Waldjunge gives riddle, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, September 17, 2011, accessed on June 15, 2012 via the press database LexisNexis Wirtschaft.
  6. ↑ Groth, Andreas, Der "Waldjunge" without memory, Frankfurter Allgemeine, June 14, 2012, accessed on June 15, 2012 via the press database LexisNexis Wirtschaft .
  7. ↑ Police published photos of “Waldjunge” Ray on welt.de, accessed on June 15, 2012.
  8. ↑ Identity of "forest boy Ray" clarified  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at berlin.de, accessed on June 15, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.berlin.de  
  9. ↑ a b http://www.bz-berlin.de/aktuell/berlin/die-wahrheit-ueber-waldjunge-ray-article1482899.html
  10. ↑ http://www.bz-berlin.de/aktuell/berlin/denkt-waldjunge-hier-seine-luegen-aus-article1483594.html
  11. ↑ "Ray is Robin. Nothing is right about his story ” on welt.de, accessed on June 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ Schmitz, Cordula: Strange case: Why did “Waldjunge Ray” lie to everyone? at welt.de, June 16, 2012 (accessed June 16, 2012).
  13. ↑ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/polizei-justiz/ Betrugsverfahren-eingendet-waldjunge-ray-kom-mit-150-stunden-arbeit-davon/ 8849782.html
personal data
SURNAME Forest boy Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Forest Man Ray (nickname); Kaspar Hauser of Berlin (nickname); Helsum, Robin van (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch impostor
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1992
PLACE OF BIRTH Hengelo , Netherlands