Cologne: Priest in court for child abuse in more than 30 cases

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Regional Court of Cologne (archive image)

Photo: Horst Galuschka / imago images

A Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Cologne is said to have abused girls more than 30 times when they were visiting him.

Now the trial of the sexual abuse of children against the 70-year-old has started before the Cologne regional court.

Right at the beginning, his defense lawyer requested that the public be excluded.

When the indictment was read out, the audience was allowed to stay.

"The public interest in the proceedings is great and must be valued higher than the defendant's legitimate interests," said Judge Christoph Kaufmann.

According to the prosecution, the priest molested his three nieces between 1993 and 1999.

The girls, who were then between seven and 13 years old, regularly stayed individually with their uncle, who worked in Gummersbach.

Priest is also said to have abused child in Wuppertal

While the girls were sitting in the bathtub or on his lap, the man allegedly touched her genitals, chest and bottom or even raped her.

The public prosecutor's office classifies three of the 31 cases as serious.

In addition, in 2011, during his time as a hospital chaplain in Wuppertal, the clergyman allegedly abused an eleven-year-old who was visiting him with her friend.

The public prosecutor's office had only brought charges in the case about two weeks ago, and the court has now combined both proceedings.

The defendant did not look up during the detailed descriptions of the prosecutor and looked at his files.

When he was due to testify, the court excluded the public.

But before the audience left the hall, the defense attorney spoke up.

The case is not about allegations of sexual abuse in the context of the institution of the church, said the lawyer: "My client is said to have acted outside of work in the private sector."

Prominent witnesses

Among the 38 witnesses that the Chamber invited for the 20 days of the trial are prominent church representatives who used to be responsible in the Archdiocese of Cologne.

Today's Archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Heße, once head of personnel in Cologne, is due to appear in court on January 18th.

The chamber also wants to hear the former highest Cologne church judge Günter Assenmacher.

The accused priest had already been reported once in 2010 - when Heße was head of personnel.

But the ad was withdrawn.

The investigation was not resumed until 2019 and then led to the indictment.

Thus, the question of whether Heße followed up the allegations against the accused with the necessary thoroughness should also play a role.

Heße himself has rejected all allegations.

When an abuse report published in March on behalf of the Archdiocese of Cologne confirmed that he had violated his duties several times, he offered Pope Francis his resignation.

But the Pope refused.

ptz / dpa