Baden-Württemberg: Rugby coach for sexual abuse in court

A rugby coach is said to have used his position to target the youth he dependents on.

Baden-Württemberg: Rugby coach for sexual abuse in court

A rugby coach is said to have used his position to target the youth he dependents on. The man from Heidelberg now has to answer in court.

Heidelberg (dpa / lsw) - A 48-year-old rugby coach is said to have severely sexually abused boys entrusted to him. As of this Friday (8.30 a.m.), the man is before the Heidelberg Regional Court because, according to the indictment, he "in several cases asked children and adolescents entrusted to him to perform sexual acts in his presence and in one case performed sexual acts on a child". The man has coached children's and youth teams in rugby.

The four alleged victims were between 12 and 15 years old at the time of the crime. The penalty for child abuse is between 2 and 15 years.

The court has already received an application from the private prosecutor to exclude the public, including the reading of the indictment. The 3rd Greater Criminal Chamber will decide on this at the beginning of the main hearing, said a court representative.

The public prosecutor's office had initiated investigations against the man because the parents of a child had reported to the police, said a spokesman for the Heidelberg public prosecutor's office. Nine witnesses have been summoned to the 3rd Major Criminal Chamber until the scheduled end of the hearing on January 5th.

Heidelberg is a rugby hotspot with several clubs in the Bundesliga.