First trial in the abuse complex

Again and again, two accused children are said to have abused - and to have exchanged information with other pedophiles on the Internet. For months, the police have been evaluating huge amounts of data from an investigation complex.

Mönchengladbach (dpa) - The details from the indictment are unbearable - and give an impression of the suffering of the victims of the nationwide abuse complex that began in Bergisch Gladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia.

For months, investigators have been evaluating huge amounts of data in order to find further perpetrators and victims of the incredible child abuse. The first trial nationwide began on Wednesday in front of the Mönchengladbach District Court. Two 39-year-old men are charged with sexual abuse of children in 79 cases.

Between 2015 and November 2019, the two Germans are said to have repeatedly raped two girls - one his daughter, the other his niece. According to the indictment, the men met via an internet forum for pedophiles and are said to have met regularly to commit some of the acts together. Years of abuse were part of the everyday life of the girls, who were six to eleven years old at the time of the crime.

"The defendants have established a reward and habituation system," said the prosecutor. The children would have received regular money and other gifts to make them compliant. Sometimes the little brother of one of the girls was involved in the deeds. The defendants from Krefeld and Viersen followed the more than one-hour indictment reading with their heads bowed, one of them crying. Whether they would like to comment on the allegations during the trial remained open on the first day of the trial.

The men are also accused of producing, distributing and owning child pornography. They are said to have taken videos and photos of their crimes and - partly with other chat partners - to have shared them. Investigators found tens of thousands of these pictures and films on the defendants' cell phones and computers. Such chats ultimately got the police on their trail.

Last October, officials searched a 42-year-old's apartment in Bergisch Gladbach. There they found huge amounts of child pornography material, which dozens of specialists from the Cologne police force are still evaluating today. Even experienced investigators had to struggle with the ghastly images. Cologne police chief Uwe Jacob said at the time that he was "stunned and dismayed at the horrific acts."

The 42-year-old was in numerous chat forums, in which pedophiles frolicked - and sometimes left clues to their identity. Since then, the investigators have been meticulously searching for other perpetrators and victims with the help of special software.

In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, the police are now investigating more than 20 suspects, nine are in custody. In addition, almost 40 suspects from other federal states have been identified so far, according to a recent report by the NRW Ministry of Justice to the legal committee of the state parliament. So far, 31 victims have been identified. The numbers could be significantly larger - far from all data have been evaluated.