- Mother Silent in Court
A mother, accused of allowing the rape of her young daughter, remains silent before the Berlin Regional Court. The 36-year-old stated through one of her two lawyers that she "has nothing to say". The woman is facing five charges between 2015 and 2017, including three cases of alleged sexual abuse by unknown men. The girl was reportedly four or five years old at the time of the first abuse incidents, when the accused was living in Bad Pyrmont (Lower Saxony). In one case, the mother is said to have held her daughter down.
The charges include severe sexual abuse of children and rape, some of which were committed by omission. Additionally, the woman is accused of using a sex toy to abuse her daughter. Furthermore, she is charged with dangerous bodily harm, allegedly holding her daughter underwater in a Berlin swimming pool in March 2017, causing the child to struggle to breathe and require hospital treatment.
Girl confides in relatives
The trial began after the girl confided in her father and stepmother. In a recorded judicial interview from July 2021, played in court, the then 10-year-old said, "Things happened that I can't speak about." She was touched, didn't want it, and it hurt.
The lawyer for the prosecution said his now 13-year-old client is currently in psychological care in Lower Saxony. The treating psychologist is convinced "that the girl is telling the truth". The lawyer appealed to the defendant: "Your daughter wants to understand what happened. If there's truth to the allegations, please: stand up, take responsibility." One of the defense lawyers stated that the evidence should be awaited, and all process participants should "remain open and avoid early conclusions". On the sidelines, the lawyer stated that his client is innocent.
The alleged location of a 2017 sexual assault is said to be a campsite "in an unknown town", according to the indictment. The prosecution lawyer did not rule out that it could have been a campsite near Lügde in North Rhine-Westphalia, where mass child abuse occurred for years until early 2019. The Berlin prosecutor's indictment does not make any connection to this previous case. The trial will continue on August 8.
The woman is additionally charged with using a sex toy to perpetrate sexual harassment against her daughter. During the trial, the prosecution lawyer emphasized the importance of the mother acknowledging and taking responsibility for her actions to help her daughter understand what happened.
