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A forensic police officer stands in the allotment garden colony in front of the arbor of the alleged main culprit (archive picture)
Photo: Guido Kirchner / dpa
The abuse complex in Münster is expanding into another country.
At the beginning of December, two men were arrested in Austria on suspicion of serious sexual abuse of children, as the public prosecutor's offices in Klagenfurt and Cologne, as well as the Münster police and the Upper Austria regional police announced in a joint statement.
The men are 24 and 44 years old and are in custody.
According to the announcement, they have admitted the allegations.
The investigators came on the trail of Austria via the cell phone of the 27-year-old main accused from Münster.
On display were images of abuse of a previously unknown boy and an unknown man.
Together with the State Criminal Police Office of Upper Austria in Linz, it was possible to identify both.
The man is a 44-year-old from Carinthia, who is said to have sexually abused a ten-year-old from his circle of friends several times from March 2019 to December 2020.
German resident in Austria arrested
He is said to have shared photos and videos of it in chats with the 27-year-old from Münster.
The arrested 24-year-old is an acquaintance of the 44-year-old.
The German resident in Austria is also said to have abused the ten-year-old.
Both are also accused of abusing a nine-year-old during the same period.
The public prosecutor's office in Münster alone has so far brought several charges against a total of nine people.
Eight minor victims were counted in these proceedings.
Again and again they came from close family surroundings.
The nationwide investigations are running against a total of at least 20 other suspects.
One suspect is from France.
It was not until the end of November that the Münster district court pronounced an initial judgment in the abuse complex.
A man from Schleswig-Holstein must therefore be imprisoned for three years and three months.
The perpetrator from Norderstedt was convicted of serious sexual abuse of a child.
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bam / dpa