Child abuse: A man from Göttingen is accused of serious sexual abuse on children. The prosecutor is now bringing charges.
- Child abuse in Lower Saxony
- Eric J. is said to have sexually abused two girls under the age of 14 in Göttingen between 2011 and 2016
- 58-year-old Göttinger was on the run for a year and a half
- Now he has been charged.
Update from Thursday, April 30th, 2020, 8.25 a.m .: The alleged sex offender Eric J. from Göttingen has to answer before the youth protection chamber of the Göttingen district court. The prosecutor charged the 58-year-old with child abuse in 17 cases.
He had initially withdrawn from the criminal proceedings pending against him and had been on the run for about a year and a half . In December 2019, officers from the Italian police arrested him at a campsite in Tuscany. At the beginning of the year, he was transferred to Germany. The 58-year-old is in custody in Rosdorf Correctional Facility.
Child abuse: man from Göttingen will soon be on trial
The prosecutor accuses him of sexually abusing two stepdaughters . The girls were under 14 at the time of the crime, said government spokesman Frank-Michael Laue.
The 58-year-old is said to have committed the abuse for several years, the indictment specified a period between 2011 and 2017. When the process begins in Göttingen is still unclear. So far there is no date for the main trial, said Laue.
Child abuse: Suspected sex offender from Göttingen extradited to Germany
Update, January 8, 2020, 11:06 am: The Italian authorities transferred the 58-year-old from Rome to Munich on January 3, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Göttingen said.
Suspected sex offender is in custody in Bavaria
Afterwards, Eric J. was brought to the correctional facility in Landsberg am Lech . The local court there confirmed the arrest warrant against the 58-year-old.
After a year and a half of escape: Italian police arrest Eric J. shortly before Christmas
The 58-year-old had been on the run for around a year and a half . Shortly before Christmas, officials of the Italian police arrested the alleged sex offender who was being searched for with a European arrest warrant at a campsite in Tuscany.
Allegation: The 58-year-old is said to have sexually abused two children for years
The Göttingen police had been investigating him since mid-2018 on suspicion of serious sexual abuse of children. The 58-year-old is said to have sexually abused two children from his private environment for five years between 2011 and 2016 .
Ad in May 2018 - then the flight followed
A lawyer reported him in May 2018. Shortly thereafter, he went into hiding. This was particularly surprising for the investigators because he had partially confessed to the acts in an initial interrogation .
In November 2018, he was seen in the Swiss border area
For a year, target officers stuck to his heels, but to no avail. In November 2018, he was seen with a red bicycle in the border area with Switzerland, after which his trace was lost.
Public search with photo in summer 2019
Last summer, the investigators decided to launch a public investigation with a photo of the person they were looking for, as reported by HNA *. However, Eric J. continued to disappear until Italian carabinieri controlled him in the province of Livorno in December.
According to the police, he had also been there on a bicycle. The 58-year-old said in the survey that he was traveling through Europe by bike and had previously been to Spain and France.
Severe child abuse: 58-year-old from Göttingen arrested at a campsite in Italy
Update, 12/20/2019, 4:15 p.m .: The alleged sex offender Eric J. from Göttingen was on the run for one and a half years.
Now the 58-year-old wanted with a European arrest warrant has been arrested in Tuscany: Officials of the Italian police have arrested the wanted at a campsite in the province of Livorno, the Göttingen police spokeswoman Jasmin Kaatz said on Friday.
The 58-year-old is said to have sexually abused two children from his private environment for five years between 2011 and 2016. A lawyer reported him in May 2018.
Suspect Göttinger went under for a year and a half
Shortly thereafter, he went into hiding. This was particularly surprising for the investigators because he had partially confessed to the acts in an initial interrogation.
For a year, target officers stuck to his heels, but to no avail. He was last seen in a red bike in the border area with Switzerland in November 2018, after which his trace was lost.
Despite public investigation: man from Göttingen remained missing
This summer, the investigators decided to launch a public search with a photo of what they were looking for on the Internet. However, Eric J. continued to disappear until Italian carabinieri controlled him in Tuscany.
Police spokeswoman Kaatz said he was there too with a bike. The 58-year-old said in the survey that he was traveling through Europe by bike and had previously been to Spain and France.
Transfer to Germany should take place promptly
The detainee should now be transferred to Germany promptly and handed over to the responsible investigative authorities.
First announcement, 20.12.2019, 15.13: Since August 2019, the suspect, a 58-year-old man from Göttingen, has been targeted in southern Germany and in neighboring countries. Now the search for police information in Tuscany was arrested in Italy.
Serious child abuse: man from Göttingen arrested
The first commissioner of the Göttingen police has been investigating the 58-year-old since mid-2018 on suspicion of serious sexual abuse of children.
Italian police officers checked the man with a European arrest warrant at a campsite in the province of Livorno on the west coast of Tuscany.
Suspected perpetrator from Göttingen was on the bike
Just as the Göttingen investigators assumed, he was cycling. In his interview with the Italian officials, he stated that he was cycling through Europe and had previously been to Spain and France.
Child abuse in Göttingen: The wanted person was traveling by bike in Europe
The last time the Göttinger was safely seen was in November 2018 in a border area with Switzerland. After that, his trail was lost.
The police searched Europe-wide for a photo of the man from Göttingen, as hna.de reported at the time. The police in Ulm had also searched for the man, since he was suspected in southern Germany or in neighboring countries.
At that time, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Lower Saxony also pointed out that the man could have changed visually.
Movement in the case of the Göttinger: suspect will soon be brought to Germany
The detainee is now promptly transferred to Germany and handed over to the responsible investigative authorities. According to the police, the further investigations are ongoing.
He is said to have sexually abused two girls under the age of 14 in Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony between 2011 and 2016. The police searched for the suspect from Göttingen with a photo.
Göttingen is a university town in the south of Lower Saxony. Almost 120,000 people live there.
By Bernd Schlegel and Heidi Niemann
* hna.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
