Frankfurt District Court: New trial starts against former football coach

A former youth football coach has to face trial on Tuesday (9.15 a.m.) in Frankfurt District Court again on charges of rape, bodily harm and the production of child pornography. At the beginning of the year, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) partially overturned the verdict against him due to a procedural error, meaning that some of the 69 individual cases will have to be retried.

Between 2014 and 2021, the man sexually abused several underage boys, in some cases secretly drugging them with sleeping pills in drinks or chocolate.

Sentenced to twelve years and nine months in prison in the first verdict

During this period, the man worked for two years as a youth coach for third division football club SV Wehen Wiesbaden. However, according to earlier information from the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, children and young people from this Hessian club were not among the victims.

Last year, the Frankfurt District Court sentenced the then 35-year-old to twelve years and nine months in prison for serious rapesexual abuse of children and adolescents as well as other sexual and physical assault crimes.

Subsequent preventive detention was also ordered

The youth protection chamber also ordered subsequent preventive detention. The accused appealed against this verdict because the public nature of the trial was not restored after a victim had been questioned on one day of the hearing. The Federal Court of Justice therefore overturned the verdict in seven cases.

According to current planning, the regional court will hear the case until the end of November.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240923-930-241186/1