Children shown abuse videos: Ex-pastor makes statement

Fulda- Am Regional Court of Fulda The trial against a former Catholic priest on suspicion of sexual Child abuse without physical contact and the production and possession of child and youth pornography.

In total, the public prosecutor’s office accuses him of 71 cases that he is said to have started in the district of Fulda.

According to the indictment, the 43-year-old is said to have contacted children and young people – both boys and girls – via an online video chat platform from September 2021 to July 2022 and played them videos of child sexual abuse.

In these videos, children had posed naked with each other, with teenagers or with adults, or had performed sexual acts on themselves and others, it was said.

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He reportedly asked some of his victims to undress or performed acts on themselves.

In nine cases, sexual abuse of children without physical contact is suspected.

The former pastor saved the video chats with the victims on his laptop. In total, the man had hundreds of photos and videos.

The defendant’s defense made an initial statement after the charges were read out.

The man had been active in the Catholic Church since childhood. He had long toyed with the idea of ​​becoming a priest, but often struggled with celibacy.

During two relationships – one during his time as a priest – he experienced “normal eroticism” and felt attracted to women. In the wake of the corona pandemic, he then experienced a higher workload and loneliness.

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According to his own statements, the man remembered a confession about the video chat platform he was using and tried it out.

He was fascinated by the “very young people there”. “I should have done sports instead,” the man explained in his statement. He now knew that his actions had caused suffering to children and young people.

The regional court has scheduled nine further hearings for the case until October 29.