After an investigation error, a man in North Rhine-Westphalia was able to abuse a three-year-old even after he confessed to sexual child abuse. The time soldier from Wesel reported himself in June because of the actions against his three-year-old daughter and five-year-old stepson. Two months later, he abused his niece.
As the Düsseldorf Ministry of Justice reported on Monday, the 26-year-old has since confessed to the serious sexual abuse from the last weekend in August.
NRW Justice Minister Peter Biesenbach (CDU) last month admitted "two manual mistakes" to the public prosecutor's office in Kleve at the time and officially regretted their omissions. After the voluntary disclosure, the public prosecutor's office waived both a house search and an interrogation of the two children.
"Avoid at all costs"
It is not certain "that the new acts would have been prevented if the injured children were searched and questioned in a timely manner," the ministry said. Immediately after the missing of the judiciary in Kleve became known, the Minister of Justice had already made the attorneys general aware of the special requirements for suspected child abuse with a decree. Time delays are therefore "to be avoided under all circumstances" and investigative and coercive measures should also be carefully checked and applied in the event of a confession.
The public prosecutor's office in Kleve had seen no reason to do so in June after the perpetrator admitted five cases of abuse to both children and showed himself to be "repentant and ready for therapy". The stepson had previously entrusted himself to his mother.
In the course of the investigations into child abuse of a large child pornography chat ring that was discovered in Bergisch Gladbach but goes far beyond, the 26-year-old was again targeted by the investigators. The Weseler exchanged child pornography pictures with a suspect from Bergisch Gladbach "and also talked about a meeting for the purpose of sexual abuse of his three-year-old niece," said Biesenbach. As a result, the time soldier was arrested on October 25, months after his voluntary declaration.
