Former pastor admits contact with children in Fulda abuse trial | hessenschau.de

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02:33 mins|24.09.24, 19:30|hensschau

Trial begins against former Kalbach pastor

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The priest from Kalbach in eastern Hesse, who is accused of sexual abuse via the Internet, made a partial confession at the start of the trial on Tuesday. The Catholic priest, who has since been suspended, admitted before the Fulda Regional Court that he had made contact with children and young people via a chat platform.

At the beginning of the trial, the 43-year-old spoke little, preferring to let his lawyer do the talking for him. The defense attorney read a personal statement from his client. “To my shame, I gave little thought to the consequences of my actions at the time,” the priest said. He now realizes that he caused “great suffering” to the minors.

Victim not identified

Between September 2021 and July 2022, the defendant is said to have specifically contacted children and young people on the chat platform. According to the indictment, he is said to have shown them child pornography videos. He is also said to have authorized them to undress in front of the webcam and perform sexual acts.

The accused are said to have secretly recorded the webcam transmissions and saved them on his computer. These videos are also said to have been passed on to third parties.

Therefore, in addition to the accusation of sexual abuse without physical contact, he must also answer for the suspicion of producing and possessing material containing sexual violence against children and young people.

Following a tip from investigators in the USA who had noticed the chat activities, the ex-pastor’s home and office in Kalbach were searched in July 2022. The German investigators seized electronic storage media and IT hardware containing incriminating material.

71 cases have now been charged. The victims have not been identified, however, as the lawyer explained. Some people in the videos were masked.

It started with spin the bottle

A representative of the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, where the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) is located, had to read a long list of alleged crimes at the start of the trial on Tuesday. The cases are very similar.

The pastor at the time always initiated contact with children or young people via the chat platform. Sometimes the chat started harmlessly. Children and young people first had to play spin the bottle or dance before sexual acts took place.

Regarding his chats and video meetings with minors, the defendant said that he was “strangely attracted and fascinated by them.” He said he was “in a kind of increasing intoxication” and “made ever further advances on this platform.”

Overwhelmed at work, lonely in the relationship

On Tuesday, the suspended pastor also provided insights into his life situation during the alleged crime: During the Corona pandemic, his workload increased dramatically. He felt overwhelmed, burned out and let down by his superior, the defendant continued.

He explained in court that the secret relationship he had with his girlfriend had also suffered. Because of his celibacy, he was not actually allowed to have a sexual relationship according to canon law. However, he had had difficulties with a life of celibacy and had felt attracted to women since puberty. Because of the relationship problems with his girlfriend and the loneliness he felt, he then turned to the Internet.

90,000 tips per year from the USA

There, his activities are reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the USA. It is not uncommon for German authorities to receive tips from there. But investigators in this country are not always able to use them.

Senior public prosecutor Benjamin Krause told hr that the Federal Criminal Police Office and the authorities receive 90,000 such tips every year. “But we have to drop 20 to 25 percent of the cases because our hands are tied when it comes to identifying the suspects,” said Krause.

More rights for investigations demanded

Investigators often receive information from the USA about which internet connection suspects used – the so-called IP address. “But we cannot assign this in Germany because we do not have any data stored,” complained the senior public prosecutor.

Only four out of ten cases could be solved in this way. “It leaves us as prosecutors almost speechless,” says Krause, “that nothing has happened for years and we have to drop so many cases.”

Verdict expected in October

Krause is therefore calling for a minimum storage of IP addresses, as already exists in other European countries. A corresponding legislative proposal from Hesse will be discussed on Friday in the Federal Council.

However, a verdict could be reached in the Fulda trial in the next few weeks. Ten days of the trial will be over by the end of October. The defendant has announced further statements. The court could sentence the man to a maximum of 15 years in prison for all of the crimes, explained senior public prosecutor Krause.

The diocese of Fulda announced that if a conviction is made, proceedings under canon law will follow.

Editorial staff:
Joern Perske

Broadcast:
hr-television, hessenschau,

24.09.24, 19:30

Source: hessenschau.de

Published on 24.09.24 at 16:15