German Court Prosecutes 'White Tiger' in Child Exploitation Case

The prosecution has revealed that the German-Iranian defendant, who was 21 at the time of the offenses, led a network that coerced children aged 11 to 15 into committing acts of self-harm for sexual purposes.

Among the victims are over 30 children from Germany, England, Canada, and the United States, as well as a young Finnish woman, who has been accepted as a civil plaintiff.

According to the indictment, the crimes took place between January 2021 and September 2023. Since the defendant was legally a minor at the time of the offenses, the trial is being held behind closed doors at the youth court in Hamburg.

The authorities arrested the defendant in mid-June of last year at his parents' home in Hamburg, and he has been in pre-trial detention since then.

The judge has scheduled 82 hearing dates through December, making this one of the longest child cybercrime cases in Germany.