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One of the two accused educators and her lawyer in court

Photo: Heiko Becker / dpa

The trial against two former educators for alleged attacks in a daycare center has begun before the Würzburg regional court. The public prosecutor's office accuses one of the two women, among other things, of mistreating those under their protection through omission. The defendant confessed: "I know that I didn't help," said the 37-year-old. “All the cases happened.”

She did not stop a colleague under her command who is said to have grossly abused four children between the ages of 18 months and 2 years. She just told the now 30-year-old “that she should stop.” She didn't do anything else at the time. “I was afraid that no one would believe me,” said the woman.

The accused are assaults in a children's home in the Würzburg district, which probably occurred between September and December 2021. The public prosecutor's office accuses the 30-year-old of eight cases of intentional bodily harm, coercion, mistreatment of those under her protection, grievous bodily harm and attempted serious mistreatment of those under her protection. She is said to have deliberately tortured the small children - probably because of a conflict with her group leader, who was also accused.

It took around a year until the 37-year-old decided to stop remaining silent about the alleged attacks of her younger colleague. For example, the 30-year-old is said to have forced a two-year-old girl to eat in three cases. She "forcibly inserted the filled spoon so far into the child's throat that the child ultimately had to take in the food and swallow it," said public prosecutor Ingo Krist. "After initially choking several times, the child vomited the food that had been forcefully introduced." In another case, the younger defendant is said to have repeatedly locked a child in a dark room.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the older defendant confessed during the investigation, and the investigators therefore classified her statements as credible. The younger defendant, who is said to have committed the actual attacks, did not comment.

bbr/dpa/AFP