London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 28, 2025

Germany faces ‘EPIDEMIC’ of child sex abuse; WHO estimates of a million victims are ‘too low’ – it has to be stopped!

Germany faces ‘EPIDEMIC’ of child sex abuse; WHO estimates of a million victims are ‘too low’ – it has to be stopped!

In Germany’s latest horrific case of child abuse, paedophiles filmed sex acts on their own children to share online. Kids learn ‘stranger danger’ but a leading campaigner says to ‘think the unthinkable’ about who real abusers are.
As four evil paedophiles begin their prison sentences this week having been found guilty of being part of the biggest child abuse ring ever uncovered in Germany, one of the nation’s most tireless campaigners has warned that sex abuse of children is at epidemic levels.

Activist Julia von Weiler, from the German branch of global NGO Innocence in Danger, says that the World Health Organisation estimates of a million German children having suffered sexual violence is way too low.

The problem authorities face in compiling figures is the high incidence of unreported abuse. Several years ago, “the Mikado Study, funded by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs found that two-thirds of child abuse survivors never disclose their trauma to anyone. Ever. And, in a put-on-your-seatbelt moment, the study also pointed out that just 1% of abuse cases were reported to police and/or youth welfare agencies,” she says.

“So if we take that 1 percent as our baseline then the 1 million estimate by the WHO is actually a rather low figure.”

She said her experience of 30 years in the field showed child abuse was widespread, not just sexual violence but ‘digital’ abuse which took place over phone or computer videos without the abuser or the victim being in the same room.

“Our estimate is that in every German classroom between two and four children are abused, not all severely, terribly sexaully abused but also by the overstepping of digital boundaries,” she said.

Those digital boundaries prove highly problematic to police investigators. In the recent case in Münster, they seized hard drives containing more than 500 terabytes of videos and photos of child abuse which they said could take them 30 years to sift through.

The 28-year-old ringleader of the sex gang – known only as Adrian V. – was given a 14-year prison sentence with his three accomplices receiving between 10 and 12 years each. The court heard all four brought their own young sons to the small house on a busy garden allotment to be abused by others, with video and photo material sold later online.

This is the second high-profile abuse case in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in less than a year after last October a man was found guilty of sexually abusing his young daughter and filming the acts so he could share the video online.

That followed yet another trial in the same state in 2019 in which two men were convicted or more than 450 attacks at a campsite in Lügde, most of them rape, on boys and girls aged from three to 14 years old over more than 20 years.

“That case,” says von Weiler, “was a game-changer”.

“The interior minister Herbert Reul actually watched some of the content these men had produced and he said, ‘Oh my God! This is an epidemic’.”

While the German authorities may be coming round to the idea that child abuse is not simply a case of sexual violence, and that its digital aspect is also a major issue, it will continue until the taboo surrounding who the actual abusers might be is broken.

In the most recent case, the garden house where the abuse took place was at the front entrance to the busy allotment and was protected by a ring of hi-tech closed circuit cameras, not usually seen among the rows of neatly tended vegetables. Yet no one said a word.

Because no one likes to think they live with, or next door to, a child sex abuser. Fathers, brothers, uncles, family friends. It’s uncomfortable.

“We need to enable ourselves to think the unthinkable,” says von Weilier. “We need to open our minds to these possibilities and then society and the politicians need to establish a system and a structure that is capable of dealing with it.

“It takes courage to report someone who just seems strange around children. But it’s that courage within each and everyone of us that we need to find. We need to professionalise, we need to enable teachers in kindergartens, school teachers and sports coaches to detect when their children need help.

“We know that’s not easily done but that’s what needs to be done and it’s a continuing job that’s not going to stop tomorrow.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
×