The shackles rang with every step the defendant took into the courtroom of the Nuremberg Criminal Justice Center. The man is wearing a red checked shirt, gray trousers and a file folder in front of his face so that nobody recognizes him. Because the allegations are so serious that even an experienced judicial officer grimaces during the reading of the indictment.
The man is accused of distributing child pornography in conjunction with threats. The father of a 20-year-old son is said to have deposited anonymous letters in front of a family’s house in Nuremberg in October 2022, describing sex fantasies with their children (two, six and twelve years old). He is also said to have placed the stolen underpants of one of the children in front of the house. “As intended by the accused, the parents feared that their children would be threatened with sexual abuse,” says the prosecutor.
When the presiding judge reads excerpts from said letter, the man sobs. He is also charged with six counts of aggravated sexual abuse, two counts in conjunction with the production of child pornography. The man is said to have abused his then five-year-old godchild in his sleep in 2019. He is said to have filmed and photographed two acts. The public prosecutor recognizes an “immense exploitation of the child’s and parents’ trust” – not only in this case: the man lived in the Swabian community of Osterberg until his arrest. As the prosecutor explains, he also regularly looked after children there; actively sought her closeness; offered his help via websites.
In addition, 14 cases of theft are charged. The public prosecutor accuses the man of having stolen children’s clothing from schools and kindergartens in Nuremberg (estimated total damage: 14,000 euros).
A policewoman who was invited describes how investigators tracked down the man. After the first letter was in front of the family house, the father installed a camera. The defendant could then be recognized when the second one was handed in. The police could have followed him and thus proved one of the thefts. Two of the acts of abuse could be proven by the photos and videos on data carriers, the other four he himself confessed – just like the thefts.
According to the prosecutor, investigators found a total of a good 2,000 items of clothing on the man. His defense attorney explains the theft of children’s clothes as a kind of protective mechanism. His client had already identified his sexual tendency towards children in 2014 and consulted a specialist. But the therapist saw no danger in him. But after the crimes that were committed, his thought was: Theft is better than real abuse.
The man’s “risk of recidivism” is currently high
An expert determined that the accused had “depressive moods”. Depression, she explains, can increase needs, but does not constitute a pedophilic disorder. And in this case she has “no doubt”. She currently assesses the man’s “risk of recurrence” as high because he has not yet been in therapy.
A circumstance that he wants to change soon, as his defense attorney assures. The defendant himself does not speak until the end of the hearing. He wanted to apologize, had done a lot wrong, hurt and disappointed many people, he says with tears. “I hope I get another chance to prove myself and live a life of impunity.”
First, the court decides, he has to go to prison for six years. The sentence lies exactly between the demands of the public prosecutor’s office (seven years) and the defense (five years). However, the court evaluates the six cases of sexual abuse as “less serious cases” – even if the words “less serious” actually bite with what happened, as the presiding judge says. However, the court credits the man with the fact that he made a significant contribution to the clarification and thus spared the abused child’s relatives a statement. In addition, the accused had no criminal record, the crimes were quite long ago and the child himself does not remember them. However, the court cannot clarify whether the accused, as testified by some children, used sleeping pills when they stayed with him for care.
The verdict is not yet legally binding.