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Church in Attendorn: Mother and grandparents did not let the child out of the house – not in daycare, school or on the playground
Photo: Franz-Peter Tschauner / dpa
Regulatory failures may have prolonged the ordeal of an eight-year-old girl who is said to have been held in a house in Sauerland for most of her life.
Because the youth welfare office had already received several anonymous tips.
Two years ago and one year ago, two tips were received, said department head Michael Färber on Monday at the request of the dpa news agency.
“We investigated immediately, but there was no solid evidence or concrete evidence that the girl was there.” There was therefore no legal opportunity to enter the house – that was also the police assessment at the time.
The WDR had also reported on tips to the youth welfare office.
The public prosecutor's office in Siegen is investigating the child's mother and grandparents.
She assumes that this would not have enabled the girl to "participate in life" - not in daycare, school or playing with other children.
The mother therefore held the child in the grandparents' house in Attendorn.
Mother indicated that the child lives in Italy
The mother had deregistered from Attendorn in the summer of 2015 and given an address in Italy as the new place of residence for her and her daughter, the department head in the Olpe district described.
Apparently, the mother wanted to avoid her daughter having contact with her father, who lived separately from the two of them.
According to Färber, he turned to the family court, which confirmed custody of both parents in 2016.
It was only when a couple contacted the youth welfare office in June 2022 and said they had seen the girl that the Federal Ministry of Justice and Italian authorities found out that the mother and daughter had never lived in Italy.
During a house search on September 23, the child was found there.
The girl now lives with a foster family.
There is no evidence of physical abuse or malnutrition.
However, the girl probably never saw the outside world.
The investigation is not yet complete, the police said.
Child protectors advocate accompanied contact with mother and grandparents
According to the Child Protection Association, careful accompaniment is now of central importance for the girl.
»For the child, the world is upside down now.
It will feel like it's on another planet," said Nicole Vergin from the NRW Child Protection Association of the German Press Agency.
The girl's essential basic needs were apparently disregarded, as were basic children's rights to education, games or social contacts, Vergin described.
All of this will have an impact on the mental, psychological or motor development of the child - even if an exact diagnosis from a distance is not possible.
It is not about the child now quickly catching up on deficits, but first and foremost it has to be mentally stabilized, emphasized social pedagogue Sabine Müller-Kolodziej from the Child Protection Association.
Even if the three adults had to be held legally responsible, the child should be allowed to interact with them in order not to be uprooted.
has/dpa