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CRIME

Boy arrested for series of sexual assaults against joggers

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a series of joggers over the last several months, Bavarian police announced on Wednesday.

Boy arrested for series of sexual assaults against joggers
File image of a jogger in a wooded area. Photo: DPA

Since July 2010, a number of female joggers have reported attacks along a trail in the wooded Siebentischwald area in northern Augsburg.

“The perpetrator acted with increasing intensity,” the statement said, adding that the boy faces charges of attempted rape, sexual assault, and bodily harm.

In what police believe was his last assault, the boy reportedly tried to drag a woman into the woods and rape her, but she managed to escape.

Based on the women’s similar reports on the perpetrator’s description, police created a six-person investigative team, which called on potential witnesses to step forward.

A number of tips came in, pointing to the 14-year-old, the statement said.

The boy, who is of prosecutable age, was arrested on Tuesday evening and has confessed to many of the 11 attacks police believe he committed.

Born and raised in Augsburg, the teen is already well-known to police for previous acts of violence and theft.

He will face a youth court, the statement said.

The Local/ka

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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