After the judgment against a mother and her Partner, who needed the small son for many years, miss, want associations and policy clarify whether the authorities failed, and how children can be better protected.
Why has no one intervened? How could this remain a crime for years, undetected? According to the judgment in the Staufen abuse case, these are questions which many people in Germany. In spite of their long experience, including Martina Huxoll-Ahn stunned, when she speaks about the case. She is the Deputy managing Director of the German children protection Federation (THIS), the largest child protection organisation in Germany. In an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) commented to her how hard it is, a sober Statement: “We also know of other cases in which children not only from their parents, so the mother and the father, to be abused, but they are also offered on the Internet, other adults, preferably men, for money. As unimaginable as that sounds.” How often something occurs, it cannot be said, says Ahn: “a Lot of cases never see the light of day.”
The crime in Staufen, a small town is almost 20 miles South of Freiburg, to the light of day: Two years of a ten-year-old Boy and the unbelievable torments suffered. Of his own mother, Berrit T., and her boyfriend, Christian L., he had been on the Internet for the rape and sexual abuse is offered. Men from Germany and abroad travelled to the Region to pass on to the little boy. For this they paid several Thousand euros.
Better training of Doctors, judges, police officers claimed
On Tuesday, the regional court of Freiburg, had spoken his judgment: The mother was twelve and a half years, her life as a companion to twelve years in prison followed by preventive detention condemned. In view of the importance of the Case, it is not surprising that it is only at THIS shocked.
Katja Suding: Doctors, judges, police officers, better schools
Shortly after the conviction, the Deputy of the FDP-group Chairman: Katja Suding spoke up. The high level of penalties, says Suding, was initially “an important Signal”, as the crime statistics count each year, “20,000 serious ill-treatment of children in Germany”. The 42-Year-old did not want to focus only on the crimes of the Convicted. Decidedly, she took the behavior of the authorities in the view: “We do not need to make further efforts, to serious misjudgments, and failures repeat. Concrete action is needed both in the networking of the concerned actors as well as in the professional qualification: Doctors, family judges, and police officers need to be trained to be able to as part of the early warning system make the right decisions.”
Fatal decision of the family court
Sudings reminders do not come about by chance: in the family in Staufen something was Amiss, was official known to: Christian L. was the authorities, not only as a convicted sex offender is known, he lived, in spite of a contact ban with children – until his arrest in early 2018 with the child and his mother under one roof.
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Imprisonment in the Staufen-process
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Long prison sentences in Staufen abuse case
Already in the spring of 2017, several months before the arrest of the two offenders, had been taken the little Boy from the youth welfare office temporarily in custody. The parenting ability of the mother had been in doubt, the suspicion of abuse was at that time in the room.
In retrospect, it is inconceivable, then what happened: By a court decision, the now ten-year-old came back to his tormentors. The reason: A family court based its decision only on the testimony of the mother, to question instead of the boy, according to his Situation. Also in front of the youth welfare office, the Couple was able to hide his actions for a long time.
Abuse officer Rörig: no “regional case”
Against this Background, on the abuse Commissioner of the German government, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, in the discussion: “There were obvious structural problems in the Interaction of courts and authorities, which must now be fully investigated and worked up. It goes to fundamental issues of cooperation and staffing of the courts and the authorities in the fight for the child’s well-being, as well as the qualification of the participating experts. The “case Staufen” sets out a series of miscalculations and omissions. We are the child guilty of, to draw the right conclusions. This relates to the state of Baden-Württemberg, all the other countries and the Federal Minister of justice.” In any case, the independent Representative for questions of sexual child abuse, should be treated the case as a “regional case”.
The FDP politician Katja Suding’t see a reason for the failure of a massive lack of staff in youth welfare offices: “the fact That currently, an estimated 16,000 jobs in the youth welfare offices are missing, is unacceptable. The victims of abuse fight for life with physical and psychological injuries.” Strongly Suding requires: “ancillary structures that are the Victims after the fact to the page: reliable, non-bureaucratic, technically competent.”
Martina Huxoll-Ahn from THIS can connect to many of the demands from the policy. Any claim not would like to assist you but. That stringent data protection is a hindrance in the workup of crimes, such as the President of the Federal criminal police office (BKA), Holger Münch, said, know, Ahn. The police were already in position, “to determine, in the case of child pornography, the occasion regardless”. Known to be would have been no case of an investigation, “in which the data protection as a hurdle or a Problem.”
Berrit T.(left), the mother of the little boy, and Christian, L. (on the right), her partner in the courtroom
Reclamation has begun
Even if the THIS entry for the rights of the child: An absolute safety for all children, says von Ahn, could simply not be guaranteed: “In a case like this, where both parents are involved, it is difficult with a recipe. We live in a free state. A total surveillance of families is simply not possible.” The Whole is not functioning according to the Motto, “to the or of the set screw you have to turn, or the measure would need to take, and then the Problem is solved”.
Nevertheless, the case appears in Staufen so monstrous, sounded the diverse demands for the reappraisal of the error to the authorities too loud to go unheard. First steps are already initiated: The family court and the youth welfare office are in the process of the failings of internal processing. Against a caseworker from the welfare office, the public Prosecutor’s office determined, and the Karlsruhe higher regional court has informed that a working group plans to present in September proposals on how authorities and the judiciary will continue to work better together.