In the Wermelskirchen crime complex, the Cologne Regional Court sentenced the accused of child abuse to 14 years and six months in prison. The court also ordered preventive detention on Tuesday. This was roughly in line with the prosecutor’s request.

The 45-year-old German had offered himself as a babysitter via online platforms and had thus come into contact with his victims. The IT expert also recorded his actions on video. During the trial he confessed to the crimes and described them as “disgusting”.

Arrested in December 2021

The man was charged with more than 120 cases of sexual violence against 13 children from 2005 to 2019. According to the indictment, the youngest victim was a girl around one month old. The uncovering of the case had caused a stir because, like other abuse complexes in recent years, it had led to numerous further investigations.

The man was arrested by police special forces in December 2021 in a house he shared with his wife. During the trial, a police officer reported on the witness stand that they wanted to arrest the accused on the “open computer” at the time in order to gain access to the videos of the crimes and to the collection of other child pornography. During the access, the man was in a video conference with work colleagues.