Babysitter's horrifying 14-year spree of abuse leaves investigators shocked
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT, DISCRETION ADVISED
COLOGNE, GERMANY: An IT expert who offered babysitting services online was convicted of child sex abuse charges in connection with crimes that reportedly left even veteran investigators horrified. The 45-year-old man -- whose identity was not released due to "privacy reasons" -- was convicted Tuesday, February 28, at a regional court in Cologne and sentenced to 14 years and six months.
Investigators said the pervert had documented the abuse of infants, children, and teenagers, and shared videos and images of "unimaginable brutality" with several people. The defendant was reportedly found to have been responsible for a series of incidents of sexualized violence against 13 minors between 2005 and 2019, with the youngest victim being just one month old.
ALSO READ
Defendant abused 13 victims
According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), prosecutors filed 120 separate charges against the perp, of which 99 were for child sexual abuse. The remainder of the cases concerned aiding and abetting abuse as well as the publication of child sexual abuse images. The indictment, obtained by DW, accused the defendant of having administered sleeping pills to his victims before abusing them. The prosecution alleged that the defendant himself abused 13 victims, the majority of whom were boys and the youngest was a girl about one month old. He is also accused of having harmed seven other children by aiding or abetting other perpetrators.
Ein 45 Jahre alter Mann aus #Wermelskirchen ist wegen schweren sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern zu einer langjährigen Haftstrafe verurteilt worden. Der Richter erklärte, er habe bisher nicht mit einem derartigen Verfahren zu sexuellem Missbrauch zu tun gehabt. pic.twitter.com/R3K7IS2SHi
— ZDFheute (@ZDFheute) February 28, 2023
Pervert arrested at home
The married man was taken into custody in December 2021 at a house he shared with his wife in Wermelskirchen, about 12 miles northeast of Cologne. A law enforcement officer told the court that police had wanted to arrest the suspect while he was logged on to his computer so they could easily access footage of the offenses and collect further child pornography in his possession. The defendant was reportedly on a video call with work colleagues when the police raid took place. Following his arrest, investigators on the case said they had never previously "encountered such a level of inhuman brutality and callous indifference to the suffering of young children." Aside from jail time, the perp is also ordered to pay damages to his victims with amounts ranging from 5,000 and 100,000 Euros, as reported by ZDF Heute.
Defendant admits 'despicable' acts
The suspect, an IT expert, reportedly forced children he babysat to perform sex acts that he filmed and stored on his computer. Investigators are said to have recovered 32 terabytes of data on his devices that reportedly included 500,000 images and 1.5 million videos. Prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence -- the maximum permitted under German law -- highlighting the severity of the crimes. The defendant reportedly admitted to the allegations during his trial and described them as "despicable," per German news agency dpa. According to DW, the disturbing case led to a series of new investigations that uncovered a wide network of child sex abuse. There were reportedly more than 130 suspects when the case opened in December, the public prosecutor's office said.