Sex offense before criminal court BS – girl (10) stormed out of the toilet in panic – “otherwise I would have continued”

A 37-year-old man stood before the criminal court in Basel-Stadt on Wednesday because he followed a ten-year-old girl to a hotel toilet in September 2021, locked himself in there with her and tried to tear off her pants. During the questioning, he admitted the act in principle and even opened up new information – it was the first time that he had commented on the allegations. The girl pushed the suspect away and escaped from the cabin. “Otherwise I would have continued,” said the accused. As a result, the prosecution tightened the charges of sexual assault on attempted rape.

Video recordings from the hotel’s surveillance camera show the corridor in front of the toilet at the time of the crime. First the girl goes to the bathroom. Then the accused enters the picture, first looks into the men’s toilet, then follows the girl. Shortly afterwards, the ten-year-old storms out in a panic. “What you have done is a cruel crime,” said the President of the Triple Court on Wednesday. A legal classification and a penalty did not materialize, however, because the proceedings were suspended.

At the request of the public prosecutor’s office, the court postponed a decision in order to have a forensic-psychiatric report drawn up for the accused. First of all, it must be clarified whether the man has pedophilia. He is said to have sought contact with teenage girls again and again, and even had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old when he was a long adult. It was mentioned for the first time on Wednesday. Sexualized pictures of young or at least young-looking girls and women were also found on his cell phone – according to the public prosecutor’s office, barely pornographic, which is why it was not charged.

The man’s culpability must also be examined. Years ago, he said he suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia. Since then he has been paying more and more attention to girls. At the time of the crime, too, he was in a substance-related state of emergency and had not slept for days. And finally, it should be professionally determined whether the man continues to pose a risk. The court gave a preliminary yes to this question and issued an extension of the sentence. «We have great concerns and cannot release you. They are a ticking time bomb, ”the president of the court justified the decision.

Which criminal offenses the man is guilty of remains open for the time being and will only be judged by the court when the main hearing continues. A psychiatric report should provide information on whether it makes sense to postpone a possible punishment in favor of therapy. Even if the accused showed little interest in treatment on Wednesday and would have loved to get away with a conditional sentence, his attitude could still change. There are many question marks behind his future, especially since an obligatory expulsion from the country is also up for debate for German citizens.