The court heard that he had met the suspect in an online chatroom and agreed to go to his apartment in the western town of Recklinghausen. The suspect said he had asked the boy to move in with him and rewarded him with money and cigarettes for sexual favours. The boy himself gave three days of testimony during the trial. Officers found the boy in a bedroom closet, in a case that stunned Germany and made headlines as an “Advent Miracle” for reuniting the then 15-year-old with his mother just before Christmas. She had gone on a national TV show the previous July to launch a fresh appeal for information into her son’s disappearance.

Source: The Local September 02, 2021 15:11 UTC