Sex offender is said to have abused two children while on prison leave

A sex offender convicted in Lower Saxony is said to have abused two children in Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt while on prison leave. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice is now talking about a “prediction error” in the Hameln youth center responsible for the man. The prisoner behaved differently during the leave he was granted to prepare for release than was predicted in the facility in Hamelin. The 23-year-old will be in court in Aschaffenburg, Franconia, from Wednesday.

During his prison leave to prepare for release, the man is said to have abused the children. The alleged victim from the Aschaffenburg area is said to have been twelve years old at the time of the crime between March and May 2025. In addition, the defendant is said to have sexually assaulted a then eleven-year-old in the Salzland district in July 2025. The man is said to have filmed and photographed some of the crimes. According to the investigators' findings, the suspect, who was being cared for in a specialist outpatient clinic for sexual offenders at the time of the crime, sought contact with minors and their families via social media.

The case will be heard at the Aschaffenburg regional court from Wednesday. The youth chamber has scheduled four days of trial until October 21st. Among other things, the public prosecutor's office wants to apply for preventive detention. After serving a prison sentence, the man would then remain in prison if he still poses a danger to the public.

Lower Saxony is planning to change the law

According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, the retrospectively incorrect forecast about the offender's behavior was processed internally. What exactly that means was not stated.

In addition, the case should also result in a change in the law. In the future, an expert report will always be drawn up for certain criminals in Lower Saxony before relaxed prison sentences or open enforcement are approved. Specifically, it concerns people with a life sentence or those who have been convicted of a particularly serious sexual or homicide offense. The report is intended to secure the prison's prognosis decision. The draft law will be discussed in the Lower Saxony cabinet in the coming weeks.

No psychological assessment before prison leave

After the case became known, Lower Saxony's Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD) spoke of a "failure" because no psychological opinion was obtained before the man was released from prison. This only happened before previously granted relaxations in detention.

During the easing of detention, the 23-year-old is said to have had several unaccompanied exits. In the meantime, these were suspended because he used an exit to search for freely accessible images with his cell phone. According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, these may have been capable of causing sexual arousal. The relapse was dealt with therapeutically.

Previously convicted in 2021

The Hanover regional court had already sentenced the man to a total prison sentence of five years and four months in 2021 for, among other things, serious sexual abuse of children. He found shelter in Hamelin.

At the beginning of 2025, the prisoner was granted leave to prepare for release. He moved to Bavaria. The end of the sentence in Lower Saxony would have been on July 31st. However, due to the new allegations of abuse, investigators arrested the suspect in Bavaria at the end of July - he was taken into custody.