crime
Sexual abuse: prison sentence for ex-deputy mayor
The ex-deputy mayor of Lünen, Daniel Wolski, was sentenced to prison by the Bochum district court. photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
Sexual abuse and possession of child pornography: The former deputy mayor of Lünen was sentenced to prison in Bochum.
Sexualized chats, meetings in the back seat of a car, lewd images on the smartphone: the former deputy mayor of Lünen, Daniel Wolski, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The Bochum regional court punished the politician for, among other things, sexual abuse of children and young people and for possession of child and youth pornography.
The defendant made a comprehensive confession in the trial, which has been ongoing since the end of March. He said through his defense lawyers that he wanted to spare all affected victims from having to testify in court. Some of the teenage girls nevertheless gave evidence in the trial. They described how Wolski had messaged them on various social networks and persuaded them to meet with him for a fee.
“The chats sometimes leave us speechless,” said presiding judge Nils Feldhaus in the reasons for the verdict. Wolski was very manipulative and put the young people under massive pressure. In some chats there is even talk of the girls prostituting themselves for the benefit of the accused. Wolski explained during the trial that these were not real ideas.
Judges advise Wolski to seek professional help
With the verdict, the judges fell just short of the prosecutor’s request, which had demanded three years and ten months in prison. Wolski himself had hoped for a suspended sentence until the end. During the course of the trial, he also gave each individual victim an amount of compensation for their pain and suffering.
The judges viewed this so-called perpetrator-victim reconciliation and the comprehensive confession as a mitigating factor in the punishment. However, they urgently advised the defendant to address his sexual attraction to prepubescent young people with professional help.
Release from custody
Immediately after the verdict, the judges released the defendant from custody for the time being. After more than 200 days, the ex-politician is a free man again. The judges justified this decision by saying that there was no longer any reason for detention such as the risk of escape or concealment. The punishment wasn’t high enough for that. Wolski will have to serve the remainder of his sentence after the verdict becomes final.
Daniel Wolski resigned from his position as deputy mayor of Lünen in 2023 after the allegations became known. At the same time he left the SPD. “I did that to prevent damage to the party,” he explained during the trial.