Nfter the death of a ten-year-old in an Upper Franconian children’s aid facility, the police, after finding traces, assume that an eleven-year-old boy was involved in the crime. This was announced by the police in Wunsiedel on Good Friday. Since the boy was not of criminal responsibility, he was placed in a secure facility as a preventative measure.
In the course of the investigation, the Soko forces immediately secured traces at the scene of the crime and left them to the State Criminal Police Office for evaluation, it said. A hearing of the eleven-year-old was still pending according to the police on Friday. Further measures would be taken in close coordination with the youth authorities.
Police and prosecutors withheld further details on Friday, referring to the boy’s age. There will be no further information, said a spokeswoman for the police headquarters in Upper Franconia. She also gave no information on what kind of traces were found. It was still unclear how the girl died.
The police are investigating the background of the child’s death with a 40-strong special commission. A spokeswoman said on Friday that the facility in Wunsiedel will continue to take care of the other children and that there are enough staff available to look after them.
Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), praised the experts involved in the investigation: “It is thanks to the meticulous and highly committed investigations that a person involved in the crime could be identified in a comparatively short time.”
Found lifeless in the room
An employee of the specialist youth welfare facility in Wunsiedel found the ten-year-old lifeless in a room on Tuesday morning. A forensic examination revealed signs of external interference. Media reports on Wednesday initially spoke of three suspected underage boys between the ages of eleven and 16.
According to the authorities, the majority of the children and young people accommodated in the aid center were on an organized ski holiday during the police measures and should return on Friday. Specially trained police forces as well as emergency pastors and psychologists take care of the residents present and the staff.
“I very much hope that we will soon have an investigation result so that normality can return here,” said Bavaria’s Minister of Social Affairs Ulrike Scharf (CSU) after talks at the facility in Wunsiedel on Thursday. She laid white flowers and lit a candle.
“Dramatic situation”
Scharf spoke of a “dramatic situation” for everyone. The children come from difficult life situations to the facility, which has an “exemplary reputation”. “Now it is important that we work through this and accompany the children on this path.” The carrier has increased the staff to support children, young people and employees.
The family policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Leni Breymaier, called for more funds and staff for care in youth protection facilities in view of the alleged homicide. “The pedagogical staff do an excellent job, but work too often at the stop,” she told the editorial network Germany (RND). In addition, the demands on the staff due to the pandemic and refugee experiences of the children and young people would tend to increase.
Martin Adam, President of the Federal Association of Private Sponsors of Free Child, Youth and Social Welfare, also emphasized that the staffing of the groups could be better. “Supervision and basic statutory services are certainly guaranteed everywhere, but individual care and personal support are often not possible,” he told the RND.