Man sentenced for sexual abuse of daughter in Germany, pedophile ring still under investigation

A 43-year-old chef and father, identified only as Jörg L. has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual abuse of his daughter and creation and distribution of child pornography that is said to have begun when the girl was 3-months-old.

Upon release from prison, he will be placed in preventive detention which according to DW means he is unlikely to ever walk free again.

During the trial, a psychiatric counselor asked him if he was aware of the consequences of his actions.  "Well," Jörg L. is quoted as saying, "my wife and daughter's life is completely ruined."

As this single case was investigated a vast network of pedophilia and child abuse was cracked open.

In June of this year, the state Justice Minister Peter Beisenbach stated, "I hadn't reckoned with the extent of child abuse on the internet."  He described what they were finding as "deeply disturbing." As a result of the arrest of Jörg L., the office is now investigating what could result in identifying as many as 30,000 potential suspects.

"We want to drag perpetrators and supporters of child abuse out of the anonymity of the internet."

As of August, 87 cases have been solidified, each of those resulting in more avenues to investigate.

"This is not about individual cases: behind each instance of abuse lies a web of communication structures that, according to our current evaluation, aids, abets and encourages abuse," Cologne State Prosecutor Markus Hartmann told DW.

Hartman explained that "by communicating with each other in chats, the people involved encouraged each other to believe that child sex abuse was a socially accepted sexual preference."

He continued saying that from what he has seen, there is a "considerable level of warped perception" shared by the members.  "The people in the groups continually reassure each other that what they are doing is really just normal, to the point that they imagine that they are committing these crimes on a consensual basis with actively involved children."

As of August, approximately 50 children had been removed from homes in which they were being abused, including one child that was 3-months-old.

The investigation continues.