According to the investigators, the suspect found the majority of his victims as babysitters in the newly uncovered Wermelskirchen abuse complex. The investigators said in a press conference on Monday that he had gotten the jobs via appropriate platforms.
The 44-year-old confessed to the core allegations. Among other things, he is accused of abusing twelve children – ten boys and two girls. Half of the children were no older than three years. The crimes happened between 2005 and 2019 over a 14-year period.
The man worked as a babysitter in the Cologne area until 2018 and offered help to parents via online platforms, among other things. According to the investigators, he looked after babies, toddlers and children with disabilities. He has looked after some of the children for years. The man is married and has no children of his own.
The investigations against the 44-year-old are only the tip of the abuse complex. Overall, the police in Cologne are investigating 70 suspects who are said to have owned and exchanged numerous photos and videos of sexually abused babies and small children. The starting point was a procedure in Berlin, said a police spokesman.
During the investigations in the capital, the man from Wermelskirchen who kept lists of suspected pedophiles was discovered.
The Cologne police have set up a “Special organizational structure list” (BAO list).
“This is a crime that cannot be judged at all in terms of brutality. The mountains of data are so large that you can no longer handle them with normal manual work,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Saturday.
According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, insurance brokers report that Allianz wants to get rid of hundreds of medium-sized companies by increasing prices by up to 400 percent. Property insurance, which companies use to protect themselves against fire, storm damage and business interruption, is affected.
