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Cologne (dpa / lnw) - In a process involving the Bergisch Gladbach abuse complex, the alleged administrator of a pedophile chat group has made a confession.
"Unfortunately, it's true, I have to admit it," said the 38-year-old from the western Black Forest on Wednesday in front of the Cologne district court.
In December 2018 he set up the chat group on an anonymous messanger service.
Only those who identified themselves as pedophiles by sharing child pornography could become members.
This was to prevent investigators from sneaking into the group, said the defendant.
The German was briefly arrested in May 2020.
Specifically, the public prosecutor's office accuses him of providing other chat partners with images of acts of abuse in eleven cases.
He is also charged with owning around 2,400 child pornographic images.
The chat group called "Friends of ..." plays a central role in the so-called abuse complex Bergisch Gladbach.
At times 76 users are said to have been active - many are being investigated.
One of the participants was Jörg L. from Bergisch Gladbach, who is considered a central figure in the network.
A search of his house had started the investigation into the abuse complex.
He has already been convicted.