A pediatrician has acknowledged extensive sexual abuse of patients during proceedings before the Potsdam Regional Court. The 46-year-old defendant said he had taken on “great guilt” and had confessed to nearly all of the alleged offenses to spare victims from having to testify. Prosecutors have charged him in 130 cases involving more than 70 people who were between two and 20 years old at the time.
According to the indictment, the alleged offenses took place over more than a decade, dating back to December 2013. The defendant is accused of abusing patients at hospital sites in Rathenow and Nauen, in an on-call room and at his private residence. He allegedly photographed and, in several cases, filmed sexual acts.
Most of the alleged victims were male. Prosecutors say the doctor often visited children and adolescents in their hospital rooms, asked them to undress and took photographs or videos. In several cases, he allegedly used purported medical examinations, including examinations of lymph nodes or the prostate, as a pretext for serious sexual offenses.
The indictment also concerns at least four incidents during medical examinations at childcare centers in Brandenburg. The doctor had visited the facilities on behalf of the public health authority and is accused of abusing several young children there and recording images and videos.
In 2023, he allegedly met a former patient several times in a hospital on-call apartment in Nauen. The alleged sexual contact involved the former patient when he was 15 and later 16 years old, and was also recorded on video, according to the prosecution.
The case also includes allegations that the defendant exchanged messages with minors and requested and received sexualized photographs from them. Investigators began examining the case in November 2025 after a mother filed a complaint. The investigation expanded after data storage devices were analyzed.
The doctor was taken into pretrial detention in November 2025 on the grounds of a risk of reoffending. He had worked for Havelland-Kliniken GmbH, which operates two hospital sites west of Berlin. The Potsdam court has scheduled 18 days of hearings.
Sources: FAZ.