In the newly uncovered Wermelskirchen abuse complex, the police accuse the 44-year-old main suspect of having sexually abused at least twelve children. Particularly perfidious: The man is said to have found the majority of his victims as babysitters via appropriate platforms.
The main suspect in a new abuse complex in North Rhine-Westphalia is said to have sexually abused twelve children. Half of the victims were younger than three years, said the investigators in Cologne. Accordingly, the 44-year-old from Wermelskirchen came into contact with his victims mainly as a babysitter. The man has been under investigation since November. He was arrested in December. The investigators confiscated data carriers with a total of 32 terabytes of data.
One terabyte printed out on paper results in a stack around 25 kilometers high, the investigators explained about the dimensions of the case. Much of it has not yet been evaluated - the number of victims could therefore increase. "It will take a very long time before we have processed the complex," said public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer. In addition, it can be assumed that the dimensions of the abuse complex in Bergisch Gladbach went beyond.
In essence, the 44-year-old admitted the deeds. It will be checked whether other children could have become victims of the man. Lists with references to other suspects were found on him. This widened the investigation. The suspects were not networked with each other. The 44-year-old maintained individual contacts with other suspects.
On Friday, the investigations into the new abuse complex in North Rhine-Westphalia against a total of more than 70 suspects in 14 federal states became public. The suspects are said to have possessed and traded child pornography. In some cases, they are said to have abused children themselves.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, major abuse processes have repeatedly been carried out in recent years. Most recently, the main suspects in the Münster complex were sentenced to long prison terms. Previously, child abuse at a campsite in Lügde, which had remained undetected for years, and the Bergisch Gladbach abuse complex had caused horror across the country.
