Edenkoben
Girl kidnapped and abused on the way to school – suspect is a convicted sex offender
The police are investigating a case of kidnapping and abuse of a ten-year-old in Edenkoben, Rhineland-Palatinate
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A 61-year-old man is said to have kidnapped and sexually abused a ten-year-old girl on her way to school in Edenkoben, Palatinate. When the police wanted to catch him, he chased the officers. The man is a convicted sex offender who has just been released from prison.
The man is supposed to take the girl in on Monday morning Edenkoben in Rhineland-Palatinate shortly before 8 a.m. dragged her into his green Audi and drove away with her along dirt roads. Passers-by called the police shortly after 8 a.m. after they noticed the Audi with the damaged rear window because the driver was said to have behaved suspiciously.
When the ten-year-old didn’t show up for class, teachers notified her parents. The father reported his daughter missing to the local police shortly after 9 a.m. The officers immediately launched a large-scale manhunt and spotted the car on a country road near Maikammer around 9:40 a.m. When the driver noticed the officers, he accelerated and tried to escape via the A65 in the direction of Kandel. He caused three traffic accidents.
Since it was not certain whether the girl was still in the vehicle, the officers waited for a good opportunity to stop the car. This presented itself to the officers on the B9 in the Kandel-Süd area after the fugitive’s car was slowed down by a technical defect. As police reported, the driver had to be forcibly removed from the car. He was brought before a judge at the Landau district court on the same day. At the request of the Landau public prosecutor’s office, the latter issued an arrest warrant against him on strong suspicion of deprivation of liberty and sexual abuse of children. After his arrest, the man confessed to “taking possession of the girl.” He is said not to have provided any further information.
Kidnapping case in Edenkoben: Suspect has a criminal record
On Tuesday, officers were able to find the cell phone that he had thrown out of the window while fleeing across the highway. The data is currently being evaluated. They also located an empty building in Bad Dürkheim where he had presumably brought the girl. So far, according to investigators, it can be assumed that the perpetrator and victim did not know each other. How he was able to take control of the child is the subject of ongoing investigations. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the man was said to have been monitored regularly.
The 61-year-old is a convicted sex offender living in Neustadt. He was sentenced to several years in prison in 1996 and 2008. In 2012 he was released from prison and placed under supervision. However, he is said to have violated these several times and was last sentenced to prison in 2020.
Sex offender refused to wear an ankle bracelet
After serving his prison sentence, he has been free again since mid-July, as senior public prosecutor Hubert Ströber announced on Wednesday. After that, he continued to be under management supervision, but repeatedly violated the requirements, such as contact and residence bans. He is also said to have refused to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. “Investing under duress is not legally possible and has therefore not been possible so far,” said the public prosecutor.
Because there was great uncertainty among the population and residents even warned about the man on social media, the Neustadt police set up a tip line. “A large number of reports were received about various whereabouts of the 61-year-old,” said Ströber. Often it was not possible to prove that the man had committed any violations, but in three cases it was possible to prove that he had committed criminal acts, which is why the public prosecutor initiated a new investigation against him and finally brought charges against him on Friday, September 8th.
With the indictment, the public prosecutor’s office also requested that a pretrial arrest warrant be issued due to the risk of absconding and the risk of concealment, “because it was feared that if the indictment was served on the 61-year-old, he would evade the criminal proceedings and make it more difficult to find the truth,” said Ströber. However, the indictment must be sent by post to the relevant court and then examined there before an arrest warrant can be executed.
Finally, Ströber explained that they understood that the act caused concern and discontent among the population. “Nevertheless, we must emphasize that we are bound by applicable laws and regulations when carrying out our tasks. Within the framework of these requirements, we have exhausted the tactically sensible options available to us.”
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Sources: Public Prosecutor’s Office Frankenthal (Palatinate), Rhine Palatinate Police