After the monstrous case of child abuse in Münster, harsher punishments are being debated. The Minister of Justice is now also in favor of it. It should go quickly now.
Berlin (dpa) - Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht now wants to get tougher punishments for child abuse quickly on the way. "I have instructed my house to submit a corresponding regulation as soon as possible," said the SPD politician in the ZDF "today journal".
"That can and will happen quickly," said Lambrecht with conviction. A weekend of serious sexual abuse of several children in Münster had become known. The 27-year-old prime suspect had two previous convictions for child pornography possession. So far, eleven suspects from several federal states have been arrested in the Münster case. Seven of them are in custody.
The Union had been under pressure in recent days and called for a change in criminal law to make child abuse a crime and to increase penalties related to child pornography. According to the Criminal Code, a crime is an act that is punished with at least one year imprisonment, and an offense is an act for which a lower prison sentence or fine can be imposed. The CDU and CSU had been under pressure in the past few days, calling for a change in criminal law to ensure that child abuse falls under the crime category and that penalties related to child pornography are also increased.
Lambrecht initially rejected the demands and received a lot of criticism, but then turned around. The SPD politician now also wants harsher punishments for cases of abuse that were not associated with physical violence and abuse. With reference to the case of Münster, Lambrecht spoke of "disgusting crimes". These are already serious crimes that can be punished with up to 15 years in prison and subsequent preventive detention. She expects the judiciary to take advantage of the potential sentence.
"Late insight is better than none," said CDU legal expert Patrick Sensburg (CDU) of "Bild" (Friday) about the minister's swing. "We should get the punishment on the way now and decide before the summer break," said Sensburg. CDU Vice Silvia Breher told the "Nordwest-Zeitung" (Friday): "We finally need tougher punishments." The minimum penalty is "just too low". CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak called in the "Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung" (Friday) to increase the sentence for possession of child pornography material from three to five years. In addition, the police must have additional personnel and investigative powers in the fight against child abuse.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) warned that it was now up to the federal government to act quickly. "The faster, the better," said Reul at "Bild Live" on Thursday.
