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Man accused of sexually abusing 122 children online

A man living near Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, faces years in prison after police say they discovered he had sexually abused more than 122 children online, across three countries.

Published: 9 December 2016 17:35 CET

Man accused of sexually abusing 122 children online

File photo: DPA.

Prosecutors on Friday said that the 32-year-old man used an internet platform beloved by children to chat under a fake name with kids between the ages of seven and 13. He would then coax them into sending him naked images and videos of themselves performing sexual acts.

The man would reportedly pretend to be a young girl, first sending dozens of kids in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland a video of a girl so they would think they were communicating with someone their own age, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported. Female victims told prosecutors that they thought they were playing some kind of online sex game with another girl their age.

He would sometimes also offer to send the children a form of online currency used on the platform, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say many of the reported victims have been severely traumatized by their interactions with the man, and suffer from psychological damage.

An investigation was launched after a mother in Lower Franconia told police in November of last year what had happened to her daughter, according to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ). In February this year, a search of the man's apartment uncovered more than 600 child porn files.

The man is also accused of meeting a 15-year-old girl from southern Germany and having sex with her after a lot of alcohol was consumed, the SZ reported. But NOZ reported that the girl's age of 15 meant he would not face charges for this encounter.

Experts refer to the man’s actions as “cyber grooming”, and criminal figures show that last year 1,958 such cases were reported. In 2005, there were 946 such cases.

Prosecutors said the case would soon be brought to court.

Berlin's former mayor hurt amid spate of attacks on German politicians

Giffey, who is currently Berlin’s senator for economic affairs, was assaulted at a library in the district of Rudow on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Wednesday.

The suspect attacked Giffey “from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck”, police said in a statement.

Giffey, who is a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), was briefly treated in hospital for “head and neck pain”, said police.

She said she was “feeling well after the initial scare” but was “concerned and shaken about a growing ‘free wild culture’ in which people who are engaging politically in our country are increasingly exposed to attacks that are supposedly justified and acceptable”.

“We live in a free and democratic country, in which everyone can be free to express his or her opinions,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“But there is a clear line – and that is violence against people,” she wrote, stressing that such attacks amount to a red line.

Berlin’s current mayor Kai Wegner condemned the assault on Giffey, saying anyone who attacks politicians are “attacking our democracy”.

“We will not tolerate this,” he said, vowing to examine “tougher sentences for attacks against politicians”.

It comes amid a spate of attacks on politicians in the run up to the European elections next month.

Less than three hours later in the eastern city of Dresden, there was another attack on a Green Party politician while the conference of interior ministers was meeting at the same time.

Police said the victim was a 47-year-old woman who was threatened and spat on.

The politician was putting up campaign posters for the European elections when a man came up, pushed her to the side and tore down two posters.

The man insulted and threatened the politician, while a woman joined in and spat on the victim, police said.

Both suspects were arrested, police said, identifying them as a 34-year-old German man and a 24-year-old woman.

S-Bahn in Dresden

A train drives through Dresden, which has seen two attacks on politicians recently. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Robert Michael

Both were in a group who were standing at the area and who had begun making the banned Hitler salute when the politician began hanging up posters.

The suspects were arrested, police said, identifying them as a 34-year-old German man and a 24-year-old woman.

Last Friday, a European parliament lawmaker, also of the SPD, was seriously injured by four attackers last week as he put up EU election posters – also in Dresden.

Matthias Ecke, 41, needed an operation for serious injuries sustained in the attack, which was denounced by Scholz as a threat to democracy.

READ ALSO: Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

Four suspects, aged between 17 and 18, are being investigated over the attack.

All four are believed to have links to the far-right group known as “Elblandrevolte”, according to German media.

The incidents have sparked a debate in Germany over the safety of politicians and how best to deal with the violence.

Berlin interior senator Iris Spranger (SPD), said on X: “I strongly condemn the attack on Franziska Giffey and on other politicians and election workers, all of whom are committed to a democratic debate.”

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but fewer than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

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