process
Football coach in court over hundreds of abuse cases
The trial against a football coach for hundreds of counts of abuse is taking place before the Munich I Regional Court. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
For years, the youth coach was the defining figure of his club, but then violent allegations came to light: He is said to have abused teenagers in his care hundreds of times.
There are shocking allegations: A soccer coach from Munich is said to have abused and raped young players for years. More than 800 The public prosecutor’s office accuses him of cases of abuse; there are said to be 30 victims.
He is also charged with rape in more than 200 cases and child abuse in four cases because the victim was younger than 14 years old. There are also allegations of sexual assault and intentional bodily harm.
The trial against the 47-year-old, who was the defining figure in his former club for years, began at the Munich I Regional Court on Thursday. As the head coach and athletic director at the time, he was considered an authority figure and was particularly responsible for the youth players.
Between 13 and 19 years old
And the public prosecutor’s office accuses him of ruthlessly exploiting this responsibility. His alleged victims were teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 at the time of the crime. He is said to have abused her during alleged physical therapy treatments and in numerous cases also raped her.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, he carried out sexual acts on the young footballers according to a pattern that was always the same on a massage table in the football club’s dressing room, at the training camp or in his house and stated that this served to improve blood circulation in the muscles.
“The injured parties, who were very young at the time of the crime and also inexperienced with sexuality and physiotherapeutic treatment methods, believed the defendant,” said the public prosecutor in her indictment.
Posed as a physiotherapist
The defendant claimed to be a trained physiotherapist and led the young footballers to believe that such treatments were common in professional sports. Even when objections arose and the young people no longer wanted to be touched by him, he repeatedly said that it had to be that way.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the fact that he was responsible for several youth teams and that the young players feared being discarded played a role.
The defendant, who, as he said, was “shaky” during the reading of the long accusation, repeatedly closed his eyes and clutched his heart several times, initially did not want to comment on the allegations at the start of the trial, according to his defense.
Will there be a deal?
However, one of his lawyers suggested a legal discussion about a so-called deal. The parties involved in the proceedings could agree on a punishment range. The condition for such a deal is a full confession.
The prosecutor stated that she could hardly imagine a prison sentence of less than eleven years for the crimes; the court suggested – in the event of a full confession – a sentence of no more than eight years.
The 47-year-old was given credit for being able to spare the alleged victims from having to testify in court, as well as for “the defendant’s previously unpunished past.” The presiding judge saw “the perfidious approach that took advantage of his position in the football club” as well as “the large number of acts and the large number of victims” as potentially aggravating the punishment.
The court emphasized that possible preventive detention or placement in a psychiatric hospital would not be included in the deal – so it would not be excluded even in the event of a confession. It initially remained unclear whether the defendant wanted to accept the deal offer. His defense lawyers said they would consider it until the next day of the trial on Monday (January 15).