Hesse
Ex-principal in court over child abuse
The accused (r) next to his defense attorney before the start of the trial in the Fulda Regional Court. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
He is said to have molested sleeping children and filmed this with his cell phone – now a former primary school director from East Hesse has to answer to these and other allegations in court.
The trial against a former elementary school principal on charges of multiple serious sexual abuse of children has begun before the Fulda Regional Court. As previously announced by his defense attorney, the man made a partial confession, said court spokesman Patrick Krug of the German Press Agency. According to the indictment, the 47-year-old from East Hesse is said to have committed sexual assaults on sleeping children and young people during several leisure activities and a school trip at night.
In total, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office charged him with 64 child abuse cases and 35 cases in which he allegedly molested young people. According to Krug, there are up to 20 possible victims, all of whom were male and were minors at the time of the crime.
According to the indictment, the crimes stretched over 23 years
The man is also said to have possessed and distributed images of abuse. The crimes are said to have spanned a period from 1998 to 2021. Which of the allegations he specifically admitted was not known. To protect the victims who were minors at the time of the crime, the public is largely excluded from the process. Only a small part of the indictment was read out anonymously on Wednesday, after which the hearing continued behind closed doors.
The man’s admission should continue on the next day of the hearing, said Krug. Then video files should also be examined, including those with which the accused is said to have documented abuse. Other things that were found on the 47-year-old would also be sighted, it said. The hearing will continue to take place behind closed doors.
According to the Attorney General, the retired ex-teacher is said to have organized some of the free time himself. He is said to have repeatedly gone into the sleeping boys’ rooms at night, touched and manipulated their genitals. In several cases he is also said to have performed oral sex on them. He filmed the acts with his cell phone.
The accused faces up to 15 years in prison
The youngest victims are said to have been between seven and nine years old. He is also said to have filmed naked children in the changing rooms during swimming lessons, focusing on their genitals. He is also accused of having child pornographic images and videos on data carriers.
The man’s defense attorney had already announced before the trial began that her client would probably deny 32 of the 114 alleged acts and concede the rest. The investigations against the man had started after a tip from the United States. As a result, the accused was suspected of possessing child pornographic material, as the spokesman for the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT), Sebastian Onion, said. When evaluating data after a search of the man’s apartment, a digital forensic investigation revealed “actual sexual abuse”.
According to the court spokesman, the law provides for a prison sentence of up to 15 years if the man is convicted – “and in the event of a conviction, the chamber would also have to examine whether preventive detention should be ordered against the accused”. So far, almost 40 days of negotiations have been scheduled for the process until the end of May.