The new abuse complex in Wermelskirchen shocked even experienced investigators. According to her, a “new dimension of brutality” was reached that even exceeds that of Lügde. The main suspect is a 44-year-old from Wermelskirchen in the Bergisches Land.
The special task force (SEK) stormed the house in Bergisch Wermelskirchen at the right time. Marcus R. sat at his computer. Consequently, the emergency services surprised in time before the 44-year-old suspect could lock his computer. After his arrest in early December, the trail led to a shadowy digital world of brutal child molesters.
Marcus R. boasted about his actions on the Darknet and via other virtual channels, exchanged videos and pictures of the abuse of small children and infants in one-to-one discussion forums. According to FOCUS online information, he is said to have acted out violent fantasies in order to make babies and toddlers breathless by means of oral sex. He is also said to have spoken to chat partners about the suffocation of little boys and girls.
A good 30 terabytes of data documenting an enormous extent of torture of underage girls and boys since 1993. At the press conference on Monday, Cologne head of investigation Jürgen Haese described the discovery of a hard drive that alone contained 1.5 million videos and 3.5 million image files about the rape of the defenseless children. The volume grew to such an extent that the prime suspect kept lists of his virtual cabinet of horrors.
Marcus R. lured his victims via online platforms where he offered to babysit. As a result, his wife was not aware of his actions either. According to senior public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer, the accused “essentially admitted” the allegations.
So far, 73 suspects in 14 federal states have been located and 33 victims identified, despite their digital legends. The youngest was just a month old. According to Haese, the perpetrators drugged the children or applied ointments before they committed their sexual assaults.
Marcus R. is said to have made films about the abuse of his protégés himself. “His violent fantasies exceeded any measure of all imagination,” reported an investigator. For 40 minutes he forced a victim to have oral sex. “You can’t imagine the pain and screams and the fear of these little children,” said Cologne police chief Frank Schnabel.
In addition, the 44-year-old employee in the video chat of the key figure in another major criminal case in Münster “watched the abuse and gave instructions,” reported NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in the afternoon.
According to FOCUS online information, the delinquent should be psychiatrically examined. As was also heard, the investigators are trying to find more hidden accomplices with his help. Especially since only ten percent of the secured data has been evaluated. The prosecutors assume that this mammoth procedure will continue to expand. “The investigations show how widespread child abuse is in Germany,” said Chief Public Prosecutor Joachim Roth.
The police and judiciary happened to be on the trail of the child molesters: in Berlin in the summer of 2021, a suspected accomplice was hospitalized. Abuse recordings were discovered on Sönke G.’s cell phone and computer. After the criminal complaint, the 28-year-old computer scientist was arrested on August 4th. He also agreed to identify his accomplices. So it also led to the trail to Wermelskirchen in the Bergisches Land.
In three cases, the Berliner is said to have violated children together with Marcus R. The Wermelskirchner joined twice, in one case he himself took part in the abuse. In addition to the Berlin collection procedure, the NRW authorities developed their own complex with presumably monstrous dimensions within six months.
At the beginning of May, the Berlin-based Sönke G. was sentenced to a total of twelve years in prison by the 9th Criminal Court for, among other things, particularly serious sexual abuse of children and the production of child pornography. The court then imposed preventive detention. That means the perpetrator faces a life sentence.
According to the verdict, the accused abused 26 boys, including babies and children with severe intellectual disabilities. The youngest child was seven months old and the oldest eight years old. The guilty verdict lists a total of 95 acts of abuse.
According to Spiegel Online, during his attacks he sometimes covered his screaming victims’ mouths. “In the vast majority of cases,” according to the judge, Sönke G. filmed his actions.
He too had offered himself as a babysitter on the Internet. In addition, he was placed by a non-profit GmbH as a voluntary helper in families. I went on excursions with the children – for example to the zoo. According to the judge, he mostly attacked his protégés in their home or in public toilets. For a long time he managed to remain undetected.
The chamber found that Sönke G. suffered from a pronounced pedophile disorder. The judge spoke of a diaper fetish on the part of the accused, “which may have been a co-trigger for the crimes”.
According to the judge’s verdict, a pedophile criminal in particular is said to have incited him to his actions: the alleged child molester from Wermelskirchen Marcus R psychiatric expert a propensity to further acts.His pronounced pedosexual disorder – “recognized for years, but not yet treated” – leads to a risk of recurrence.
