[MSN] Jail for obsessive collector who stole museum exhibits

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

    Jail for obsessive collector who stole museum exhibits

///20th April 2007, 14:15 WST
/

It was the biggest museum theft in the nation's history, with more than 
2,000 specimens, including a skull from the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, 
stolen from Sydney's Australian Museum.   

Former museum pest controller Hendrikus van Leeuwen, convicted of the 
theft, was today jailed for up to seven years for what a judge described 
as "enormous, incalculable harm".   

"Through his selfish actions he has cost the Australian Museum not only 
a great deal of money, but damaged its reputation," District Court Judge 
Peter Berman said in sentencing Leeuwen.   

" ... perhaps most importantly of all, (he has) caused permanent harm to 
the ability of scientists to study many aspects of the natural history 
of Australia and the rest of the world."   

Van Leeuwen, 50, began collecting bird and animal specimens, including 
road-kill, as a boy in Holland, the court was told.   

But his interest became an obsession, costing him his job and, 
ultimately, his freedom.   

Soon after he was hired in 1996, van Leeuwen began stealing specimens 
from the Australian Museum whose natural history collection - the oldest 
in the country - dates back to 1827.   

Van Leeuwen was "not a very good pest controller", according to one 
witness.   

But he was a very successful thief.   

His haul included skulls, skins and skeletons from animals such as the 
Ganges River dolphin, the clouded leopard and the rare Bulmer's Fruit 
Bat.   

Van Leeuwen was sacked in 2003 after the Independent Commission Against 
Corruption recovered more than 2,000 specimens in raids at his 
Londonderry home, in Sydney's west.   

The 2007 Australian of the Year, scientist and author Tim Flannery, gave 
evidence, saying he believed it was "the largest theft of museum 
holdings every perpetrated in Australia".   

Some items were irreparably damaged, the court was told.   

Some exhibits had their identifying numbers removed while others were 
bleached or, like the Tasmanian tiger skull, had teeth removed.   

Judge Berman rejected van Leeuwen's claim that he took the exhibits to 
protect them, finding he was "obsessed" with collecting specimens and 
simply wanted to possess them.   

Many of the exhibits - valued at more than $875,000 - were "unique and 
irreplaceable", the judge said.   

Van Leeuwen pleaded guilty to 15 counts of stealing from his employer, 
while Judge Berman took another 179 offences into account in sentencing.   

The charges were representative of more than 2,000 stolen items, the 
museum said.   

Australian Museum Trust president Brian Sherman said the impact of the 
theft on museum staff and the community, and the scale of the losses, 
was "incalculable".   

"Such a betrayal of trust is always regrettable, but when such 
deliberate and discriminating thefts compromise the work of hundreds of 
researchers conducted over centuries, it is particularly heartbreaking 
for our loyal staff," he said.   

"The community is also deprived of the knowledge and experience 
represented by these specimens."   

Van Leeuwen must serve at least five years behind bars and will be 
eligible for parole in 2012.  

http://www.thewest.com.au/