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Christoph Metzelder (archive picture): Investigations against acquaintances
Photo: Oliver Killig / dpa
In the proceedings against a woman who claims to have received child pornography recordings from Christoph Metzelder, it amounts to an indictment.
The Hamburg public prosecutor wants to stop the case against a monetary requirement of 300 euros.
The defender of the accused, Leon Kruse, told SPIEGEL that his client had not accepted the offer.
"I advised her against it. She didn't do anything punishable."
The prosecutor accuses the woman of possessing child pornography.
According to the investigators' findings, she should have received the files from Metzelder in August 2019.
He is said to have sent her the pictures via WhatsApp.
According to the prosecutor, the woman "let a few days pass" before the police were informed.
She apparently did not want to "cannibalize" the case
First, she contacted an acquaintance.
Because of his work as a journalist, he had connections to the police, which the woman apparently knew about.
"We cannot assume that she wanted to cannibalize the case," said a spokeswoman for the Hamburg public prosecutor's office to SPIEGEL.
Rather, she asked the man for advice.
That this journalist was not in the foreground, but his contacts with the investigative authorities.
The journalist immediately informed the Hamburg police.
This then approached the woman.
After the incident became known, the Hamburg police themselves announced that they had received a tip from the "Bild" newspaper.
This reported a situation in which "criminal investigations were to be initiated immediately".
According to the public prosecutor, the woman herself did not file a complaint.
Her defense attorney Kruse said: "She received pictures of Mr. Metzelder and sought contact with the police promptly. This resulted in the proceedings against Mr. Metzelder. She did not want these pictures."
Former national soccer player Christoph Metzelder is suspected according to the Düsseldorf District Court of having sent a total of 29 child pornographic files to three women.
As of September 2019, there are said to have been almost 300 such files on his mobile phone.
Metzelder's lawyers left questions about the allegations unanswered.
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