Wunsiedel
11-year-old allegedly involved in 10-year-old’s death
Police in front of the child and youth welfare center in Wunsiedel. photo
© Daniel Vogl/dpa
It sounds outrageous: According to the trace analysis, an eleven-year-old was said to have been involved in Wunsiedel. What happened behind the walls of the children’s aid facility?
After the death of a ten-year-old girl in a child and youth welfare facility in Wunsiedel, the police assume that an eleven-year-old was involved. The results of the securing of evidence allow this conclusion to be drawn, the police and public prosecutor’s office said on Good Friday: “Since the eleven-year-old boy is not of criminal responsibility, he was housed in a secure facility as a preventive measure.”
The girl was found dead in her room in the child and youth welfare facility on Tuesday. The public prosecutor assumed a homicide; a Soko with around 40 employees started their investigations. The task forces of the Soko immediately secured traces at the scene of the crime and left them to the State Criminal Police Office for evaluation.
A hearing of the eleven-year-old boy was still pending according to the police on Friday. Further measures would be taken in close coordination with the youth authorities.
Interior Minister Herrmann: Difficult investigations
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) praised the experts involved in the investigation on Friday: “Thanks to the meticulous and highly committed investigations, a person involved in the crime could be identified in a comparatively short time.” It is now a matter of “clarifying the exact background of this horrific act”.
The Minister of the Interior spoke of difficult and complex investigations, since a large number of children and young people had to be questioned. “It takes a lot of tact.”
The day before, the Bavarian Minister for Family Affairs Ulrike Scharf (CSU) had visited the Wunsiedel facility and found out how what had happened there was being processed. “The children need protection in their familiar surroundings so that they can work through the situation with their carers.”
How did the girl die?
But what happened behind the walls of the center when the girl died? Police and prosecutors withheld further details on Friday, referring to the boy’s age. There will be no further information, said a spokeswoman for the police headquarters in Upper Franconia. She also gave no information on what kind of traces were found. It was still unclear how the girl died.
The child and youth welfare facility blends inconspicuously into the picture of the 9,200-inhabitant town of Wunsiedel, it is right next to the Catholic parish church.
According to the agency, around 90 children and young adults between the ages of 3 and 19 are cared for there. The staff of the house also consists of about 90 employees. The specialist facility is there for young people and their families who need help with education, according to the website of the house. “The children come from difficult situations,” said Minister Scharf.