Wuppertal District Court
He founded a support group for toxic relationships – and is now on trial as a suspected stalker
The stalking trial takes place at the Wuppertal district court (archive image)
© Caroline Seidel / DPA
He is said to have sent masses of messages and tried to discredit his ex-partner. Now the alleged stalker is on trial in Wupppertal – an expert in toxic relationships, of all things.
The founder of a self-help group for toxic relationships is on trial in Wuppertal for stalking. The 52-year-old is said to have terrorized his former partner. The public prosecutor’s office accuses him of serious stalking Stalking in legalese is called. At the start of the trial on Wednesday at the district court, he presented himself as the actual victim.
A year and a half of alleged stalking in court
In addition to the mass of text messages and emails that the man is said to have sent to the woman, he is also said to have tried, according to the indictment, to discredit her with their son’s daycare center and her employer. The woman is said to have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of months of stalking.
The woman reported that he stalked her for a year and a half, wrote countless messages and made her life hell. Both of them met in 2018 via an internet portal. After the birth of their son, problems arose in the relationship. After the breakup, the stalking started, she said. He even accused her of stealing from her employer.
The alleged stalker denies all allegations. The relationship with her was toxic and terrible. She contacted him again and again and put him under pressure: “If you don’t come back to me, you won’t see your son anymore,” she wrote to him.
The defendant said it was “pure horror” that he had experienced. He has hundreds of messages from her. She was hurt because she no longer had power over him. As a lecturer on toxic relationships, he now knows that this is typical. He started his support group for toxic relationships to deal with his own. So in the trial it’s initially a case of statement against statement. The defendant wanted to hand over extensive material to the court on Wednesday.