Abuse case: investigation after suspicion against police officer
Five years after the Lügde abuse case came to light, there are still internal police investigations into the disappearance of possible evidence. This was reported by North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Friday in the "Child Abuse Investigation Committee" in the Düsseldorf state parliament.
A retired police officer had testified that around 15 years ago, one of his colleagues in the Lippe district police department was suspected of having "borrowed" child pornography evidence, said Reul. This statement is being investigated intensively.
However, both the incriminated former police officer and a former superior had died in the meantime. Criminal proceedings that were initiated immediately have been discontinued. "But the internal investigations are still ongoing," said Reul. "The end of the story: unfortunately, the whereabouts of the evidence have still not been clarified."
The years of sexual abuse at a campsite in Lügde, Lippe, on the border with Lower Saxony, caused nationwide horror after the monstrous crimes came to light. Numerous children had been sexually abused and raped by several men over many years up until the end of 2018. The two main perpetrators were sentenced to long prison terms by the Detmold district court in 2019. The NRW state parliament had set up a committee of inquiry in 2019 and relaunched it during this legislative period to shed light on the role of the youth welfare offices in the region and the work of the police.
At the time, evidence files containing possible evidence - an aluminum case and a plastic case containing around 155 CDs and DVDs - had gone missing from the Lippe district police department. This had been concealed from the Ministry of the Interior, reported Reul. After this came to light, "everyone was on 180", said the Minister of the Interior. The administration of evidence in Lippe was inadequate and the way it was handled was "impossible". At the time, only one trainee inspector had been tasked with viewing the material. "The police leadership has been taken out of circulation", Reul concluded.
After the Lügde case, numerous lessons were learned for police work throughout the country: There had been a massive upgrade in terms of personnel, organization and technology in the fight against child abuse and images of such crimes. "Lügde was to a certain extent the beacon for the reform of the fight against child abuse," said Reul. It was only through this complex that the social dimension of the mass crimes became clear.
In light of the ongoing internal investigations into the Lügde abuse case, the Child Abuse Investigation Committee in the Düsseldorf state parliament discussed the situation with North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul. Reul mentioned the existence of investigation committees within the police, focusing on the disappearance of potential child pornography evidence that was suspected to be "borrowed" by a police officer years ago.
Source: www.dpa.com
