BERLIN (AP) — A court in the western German city of Muenster sentenced a 28-year-old computer technician to 14 years in prison for sexually abusing children in 29 cases, including several cases of rape, the German news agency dpa reported Tuesday.
Because of the severity of his crime, the man’s prison term can be further extended beyond the 14 years, the court ruled. The man already has previous convictions for child abuse.
The man, whose identity wasn’t released as is customary in Germany, was the alleged leader of a group of people involved in the sexual abuse of the children.
His mother, and three other men, also received high prison sentences.
The court said the group — all German citizens — was involved in repeatedly raping two boys, one of them the 11-year-old foster son of the computer technician. Intermittently the boys were also drugged while being raped, dpa reported. The attacks on the boys occurred over several days last year in a garden shed in the north of Muenster which belonged to the 28-year-old’s mother.
The perpetrators used sophisticated technology to encrypt their communication about the abuse of the children, and police secured hundreds of terabytes of video footage when they arrested the men in Muenster last year.
“This tops everything that was ever submitted to this chamber,” judge Matthias Pheiler said.
The three other men who were sentenced in connection with the child abuse were a 36-year-old from Hannover who received a 10-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of children in four cases; a 43-year-old from Schorfheide who was sentenced to 11 years and six months for five cases of abuse; and a 31-year-old from Staufenberg who was sentenced to 12 years for six cases, dpa reported. Their sentences can also be further extended after the end of their prison terms because of the severity of the crimes.
The 46-year-old mother of the computer technician was sentenced to five years in prison for her complicity in the crimes. The court said she knew of the child abuse happening in her garden shed.
All sentences can be appealed, dpa reported.
The family minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Muenster is located, expressed relief about the high prison sentences.
“It’s a clear signal: Somebody who rapes children will feel the full toughness of the rule of law and has to expect to be locked away for the rest of his life,” Joachim Stamp said, according to dpa.
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