Overview
- The trial opened Friday at the Landgericht Stuttgart where the 53-year-old former daycare operator told judges he accepts the charges against him.
- Prosecutors have filed 45 counts alleging repeated severe sexual abuse of children and the creation, possession and distribution of child‑abuse images and videos.
- Authorities say the victims were aged 0 to 12 and were mostly toddlers who the man cared for until his arrest in October 2025; he had been looking after up to eight children including nights, weekends and some holidays.
- Investigators identified the suspect through probes of a peer‑to‑peer network with help from Bavarian police, and the man is also accused of failing to stop his son from sexually abusing some children who is now being prosecuted separately.
- The court has scheduled nine hearing dates and could deliver a verdict in mid‑July, a timetable that puts focus on how digital detection and agency oversight might change after the case concludes.