The suggestion sounds harmless, one man writes to the other: "We have to came again if you feel like it." But the web-cam involved here served a perfidious purpose: with her, Andreas V. was supposed to have filmed how he passed on to little girls - and the man from Stade, who had written the mail to him, was allowed to watch. V., 56, is the main culprit in the case of mass child abuse at the campsite in Lügde.
The 48-year-old craftsman from Stade, who is in custody on suspicion of sexual abuse abduction, has so far been the only one to be blamed for the allegations. He admitted to having participated in two live chats, according to his lawyer. By mail he had previously arranged an appointment with Andreas V.
In the dwelling of Andreas V. at the campsite in Lügde, where he lived as a permanent camper for more than 20 years, the investigators found a photo tripod, positioned in the direction of a sofa, in addition to extensive child pornographic material. This emerges from a confidential report of the North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Hubert Reul to the Interior Committee of the Landtag, which is the SPIEGEL present.
Emails led to suspects
Andreas V. had actually praised the girls, says the lawyer of the alleged accomplice. He said that he had the trust of the parents who let their children spend the night with him. The then 10-year-old girl, who presented Andreas V. in the live chat with the man from Stade, he had requested in a similar way: Show him what you have beautiful! It fell the first name of the craftsman.
The investigators came to him through the name and emails. In the first chat, his client had to show his apartment, apparently Andreas V. wanted to make sure that there were no other witnesses and it was not a case.
The disgusting chat is just a snapshot from the depths of a serious crime that is now trying to solve 51 investigators of the special commission "Eichwald". Suspected at least 31 children have previously been identified as a victim of the police, the youngest were only four years old. Overall, it should go to around a thousand acts in a period of at least ten years. "It is unusual that with so many victims for so long a period apart from two whistleblowers nobody wants to have noticed," says Ralf Vetter, the Chief Attorney General in Detmold.
Andreas V. is said to have said about victims, for sweets do it all
Doubts are particularly directed against the youth welfare office in Hameln. At the beginning of 2017, he entrusted the then six-year-old girl M., a foster child, with the lonely, permanently unemployed Andreas V. Already in 2016 there were indications of Andreas V. as a possible abuser - both by a father of girls, Andreas V and his foster daughter met at a barbecue, as well as an employee of the job center, where Andreas V. because of his Hartz IV Support had an appointment.
There he is said to have said that the girl "makes me hot first, wants to cuddle, and then not". And: "She hates the smell of men," but she would do anything for sweets. According to the report, the local youth welfare office in Lippe and the police were also informed about the information.
On suspicion of breach of the duty of care and education investigations were initiated against the youth welfare offices. Also against two policemen is determined. They should not have followed the instructions and simply concluded the process in May 2017, according to the report of the Minister of the Interior. After a while, the authorities informed the two informants that everything was alright.
Youth welfare offices do not want to have any evidence of sexual abuse
On Friday, the Hameln district administrator Tjark Bartels announced that an employee of the youth welfare office had manipulated the files. He admitted to retrospectively creating and backdating a memo, then sorting it into the file. He was therefore released from duty.
The youth welfare offices had previously stated that they had at best information about a possible neglect or endangerment of the child, but not on sexual abuse.
The foster daughter, now eight years old, was taken into custody by the Youth Welfare Office after a complaint in November 2018 and placed with new foster parents. The complaint against Andreas V. came from a mother whose child she allegedly abused.
In the new foster family, the girl has meanwhile reported that her foster father also forced her to commit sexual acts on the accused Mario S. - that's what the Minister of the Interior says. The 33-year-old man from Steinheim, who also had a parcel in the campsite, is also in custody. He also watched when V. abused the foster daughter. Both men are silent so far on the allegations.
"That must not happen, that now again does not look properly"
The investigators are apparently making good progress, because as possible in April, the prosecutor wants to bring charges against the three defendants in charge: for serious sexual abuse or involvement in it. Attorney Vetter also confirmed that the men may have had other helpers, including one who is said to have deleted data for Andreas V. A preliminary investigation for criminal foiling was initiated against him. Two other suspects are being investigated for possible aid, but so far there has been little suspicion, according to Vetter.
Representatives of victims such as the Hameln lawyer Roman von Alvensleben fear that the investigations against the authorities could be stopped. For the Attorney General in Hamm has expressed doubts about the procedure. According to her previous knowledge, a "suspicion of criminally relevant behavior" against officials of the district police in Lippe or the youth welfare offices in Hameln and Bad Pyrmont was not justified, she said in a note on 5 February. She therefore asked for a review of the investigation.
"It must not happen that now again does not look properly and is checked whether the authorities have fulfilled their duties," says von Alvensleben. He represents a 10-year-old girl who was herself a victim. "The job of the authorities was to protect the foster child and other children, and they have considerable doubts as to whether they did that." Several children, including his client, "would have been spared their suffering if it had taken decisive action in 2016."