Trial at the Regional Court: 65-year-old man accused of abusing his granddaughter

A 65-year-old man has been on trial at Leipzig Regional Court since Monday on a series of serious allegations: the prosecution accuses the defendant of serious sexual abuse of his own granddaughter, of whom he is also alleged to have taken pornographic images and possibly even offered the child to third parties. Shortly after the charges were read out, the public was excluded from the courtroom.

According to a representative of the public prosecutor’s office, the offences with which the defendant is charged are alleged to have taken place between early October 2021 and early September 2022 in his own flat in the east of Leipzig. The indictment comprises twelve counts. The charges include, amongst other things, serious sexual abuse of a child and the production of so-called child pornography.

Did he send images of his granddaughter to Ditte?

According to the charges, the suspect repeatedly abused his own eight-year-old granddaughter during the period in question. Furthermore, the grandfather is alleged to have instructed the girl to pose in certain positions, whilst he took photographs and filmed her.

He is alleged to have sent the images via chat messages to other men, whose identities have only been partially established. Some recipients remain unknown to the investigators. The 65-year-old may also have offered his granddaughter for sexual acts; this is, at least, a conjecture based on the content of the chat messages.

Closed-door statement

On Monday, according to his defence lawyer Tommy Kujus, the defendant also intended to comment on the shocking allegations – but behind closed doors: The court ruled that as the proceedings would touch upon matters relating to the highly personal lives of the defendant and his granddaughter, who is now twelve years old, the public’s interest in the information must take a back seat – and thus partially upheld a motion by the defence. However, a request to completely exclude the public from the entire trial was rejected.

The defendant is currently in pre-trial detention and would face several years’ imprisonment if found guilty. The girl’s mother is acting as a joint plaintiff. Three further days of proceedings are scheduled until 17 July.