In the case of mass abuse of children, investigators have detained another suspect. A 32-year-old from Bergisch Gladbach is in custody, police and prosecutors informed. He allegedly abused two children and spread child pornography. His residence will be searched, it said.
It is the tenth arrest in the abuse case. Eight men were arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia, two more men in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, there are more suspects. The exact number of perpetrators and victims can not currently be estimated.
So far, the investigators have been aware of ten alleged victims, ranging in age from one to fourteen. Several of the children have since been heard, others are just too young for it. The SPIEGEL learned from investigation circles.
The starting point for the extensive investigation were large amounts of data with child pornography content, which were found at the end of October in the search of an apartment in Bergisch Gladbach. The pictures on the smartphone of the family father show loud police serious sexual abuse. By analyzing his cell phone, the investigators came on the trail of other suspects.
In the network, perpetrators are said to have spread photos and videos of abuse into chat groups of up to 1,800 members. At least two of the suspects are said to have exchanged SPIEGEL information in the chats about the possible mutual feeding of children - with the aim of abusing them. In one case it probably came to an "exchange". More cases are currently under investigation by the investigators. Some suspects are said to have put pictures of their own children on the net, other accused should have asked on this basis, whether a "barter" or a feeder is possible.
The investigators are currently working through large amounts of data with incriminating material and are starting from other perpetrators and victims. The police also use freshly recruited "evaluators".
Recently, investigation errors were also reported in the case. In a question time of the North Rhine-Westphalian parliament, Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach (CDU) acknowledged "two technical errors" of the prosecutor Kleve.
The entire dimension of the case, according to the investigators is not yet estimate. So far unknown perpetrators could therefore continue to be active. It is expected that the investigations would be extended to other federal states and possibly to foreign countries. More than 250 investigators work according to police at the Enlightenment.
Also read the interview with child pornography chief investigator Andreas May: "I came with the idea to do everything right and then that, terrible"
