Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A day care teacher from Germany has been accused of child abuse after he confessed to sexually abusing eight toddlers at his workplace in a time period of two years, and is now facing charges.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against Lukas Benke, reportedly aged 27, for 28 cases of child abuse after the man from the town of Stendal located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt allegedly confessed to the crimes.
Benke worked as a pedagogical employee at the municipal daycare centre “Abenteuerland” (Adventure Land) located in the district of Strehlen in the city of Dresden since April 2018, and reportedly started molesting the children several months later.
He was caught after parents who had noticed their children behaving strangely quizzed them and found out what was allegedly going on, and reported him to the police,
According to the police, after the arrest, the 27-year-old man confessed to having sexually abused girls aged between two and three years old from July 2018 to August 2020.
Bild reported that the accused had allegedly taken pictures and recorded video footage of the minors, which he kept in a database that was also seized by police officers during the arrest.
Moreover, during the investigation, the German Criminal Police came across earlier evidence of abuse that occurred outside of the daycare centre.
Senior Public Prosecutor Jurgen Schmidt, 46, revealed on Tuesday: “The accused is charged with having committed sexual acts on eight to ten-year-old girls in Dresden between July 2013 and August 2015 and secretly filmed them.”
Schmidt also added: “We have pressed charges to the Dresden Regional Court of serious sexual abuse of children in 12 cases and sexual abuse of children in 16 cases.”
Benke who was arrested following a special investigation by the German Criminal Police has been in custody since January and is currently awaiting trial.
The ‘Abenteuerland’ daycare centre has not made any public statements regarding the matter.
