Abuse complex Wermelskirchen: the main suspect is cooperative

The abuse cases in Wermelskirchen are shocking because of their brutality and the young age of the youngest victim. Now the lawyer for the main suspect has spoken out: his client is cooperating with the investigators.

According to his defense attorney, the main suspect in the Wermelskirchen abuse complex helped the investigators comprehensively with the investigation. His defense attorney, the Cologne lawyer Christian Lange, reported that he confessed to the allegations very quickly after his arrest and admitted to further actions beyond the arrest warrant.

His client also helped identify other people he had contact with. In February he was questioned for four days. In doing so, he supported the police investigations and helped to solve cases beyond his own responsibility. According to the lawyer, he assumes that his client’s cooperation is a significant contribution to the success of the investigation. His client had sexually abused young children. “He is responsible for that and he knows that a long prison sentence awaits him, rightly so.”

Wife and family completely surprised

The Wermelskirchener “is doing everything possible to prevent him ever again being at risk of such and similar crimes,” said the lawyer. This includes breaking all bridges to the scene with his help and trying to get therapy. His wife and family were completely surprised by the arrest and the allegations. They had no idea and through no fault of their own found themselves in an extremely difficult situation.

According to the investigators, the new abuse complex in Wermelskirchen – located between Cologne and Wuppertal – has a dimension of brutality that exceeds that of other crime complexes. The main accused 44-year-old from Wermelskirchen offered his services as a babysitter on the Internet and was thus able to approach his victims. He also exchanged child pornographic images and videos of “unimaginable brutality” with dozens of other men.

73 suspects identified so far

So far, 73 suspects and 33 victims have been identified, investigators reported on Monday. The youngest child was one month old. The 44-year-old, who has no previous convictions, is said to have abused twelve children himself – ten boys and two girls – in the greater Cologne area. 18 acts of abuse are attributed to him.

North Rhine-Westphalia has become a focus of investigations into child sexual abuse in recent years. After this Abuse case camping Lügde In the Lippe district, investigations into the Bergisch Gladbach and Münster complexes followed.