A former police officer has been standing in front of the Düsseldorf district court since Monday for the abuse of three little girls.
The prosecutor accused the now retired official of 14x child abuse and rape at the start of the trial on Monday.
In addition, more than 1,000 images of serious child sexual abuse were found when his apartment was searched.
The acts are said to have been committed over a period of 13 years in an allotment garden in Düsseldorf.
At that time, the children lived in the immediate vicinity of the 63-year-old.
The prosecutor said when the indictment was read out, there was amicable contact between the family of one of the girls and the defendant.
The alleged victims are said to have complied with the requests for sexual acts out of fear of the accused.
The public was excluded from the trial after the indictment was read out.
The defendant has been in custody since January.
The alleged victims are now 14, 22 and 25 years old.
The court has set four days to hear the case.