Trucker fathered eight children with stepdaughter

A GERMAN trucker admitted yesterday to fathering seven children with his stepdaughter, but denied sexually abusing her, her brother and his biological daughter over a 23-year alleged reign of terror.

The 48-year-old, identified only as Detlef S, went on trial in the western city of Koblenz, accused of forcing his stepdaughter, now in her late 20s, to bear his children and of brutally abusing his daughter and stepson.

Dressed smartly in a red jacket, blue shirt and colourful tie, Detlef S showed no emotion as the charges were read out and he did not speak.

But his lawyer, Thomas Dueber, told the court: “He would like to clarify that he is the father of the seven children of the co-plaintiff (his stepdaughter). But he denies the charges made against him.”

Tests had already shown with 99.9% certainty that he fathered seven children with his stepdaughter, who also gave birth to an eighth child who died. The children are now aged between 15 months and 11 years.

In line with German privacy laws, the defendant’s full name was not given in court.

Several German media have compared the case to that of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter Elisabeth as a sex slave in a cramped dungeon for 24 years. Fritzl raped Elisabeth thousands of times, fathering seven children with her and letting one of the newborn babies die. He was sentenced to life in prison in March 2009.

In total, Detlef S is charged with 350 counts of sexual assault and grievous sexual assault of minors. He is also accused of prostituting his stepdaughter and his biological daughter out to friends, allegedly while he watched. A verdict is expected on February 25. The accused faces 15 years behind bars if convicted.

His stepson, identified as Bjoern, told reporters outside the courthouse that authorities had failed to do their job properly and missed tell-tale signs of abuse in the house, alleged to have gone on between 1987 to 2010.

“If you are a trained social worker you are supposed to go there and interview the victims without the perpetrator being present, and not all together,” he said.

“It is clear that the children were unable to build up any trust of the youth welfare office.”

The stepdaughter, named in media reports as Natasha, told reporters as the trial opened: “I hope he gets the right sentence and that he can never hurt anyone again.”

The man was arrested on August 10, 2010, and has been in custody since.

The mother of the trio, who is in her 50s, is expected to appear as a witness in the trial and prosecutors are not charging her with any offence, lawyer Katharina Hellwig said last week.

“It looks as if she repressed what went on,” Hellwig said.

The trial, which has shocked Germany, follows several similar such cases around the world.

In November, a 62-year-old Argentine man was arrested and charged with raping his daughter for more than 30 years and fathering 10 children with her, the latest in a string of similar cases in the country.

In the latest case, midwife Gabriele Schulte, who delivered three of the children, said that she and a doctor had become suspicious and had alerted social services, but that it came to nothing.

“They went over there to see what was what, but, since the children showed no signs of being neglected or even abused and, as the daughter said nothing, they had to leave,” Schulte told the local Rhein-Zeitung daily.

She said that the accused was present at all the births, and that he always seemed very self-assured.

“He didn’t seem to be afraid they might start talking and he definitely didn’t have a bad conscience,” she said.

The stepson told a TV news channel: “Of course we are scared of the trial, but I hope we will have the strength to come through it.”