Two men who groomed and abused hundreds of children at a campsite in Germany over a period of more than 20 years have been jailed by a judge who said she was “lost for words” at the severity of their crimes.

Victims’ families said they hoped the attackers would spend years behind bars. The nation’s judiciary, police, youth services and politicians came under fire during the 10-week trial for their slowness to act, despite suspicions about the men expressed by children and their parents years before. Herbert Reul, the interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia where the abuse took place, has conceded that authorities have “not been on the ball – but half-asleep” on tackling child abuse, and promised to ensure the issue was put at the top of the political agenda.

Andreas V, 56, and Mario S, 33, whose full names were not released in accordance with German law, will spend 13 and 12 years in prison respectively, followed by a period in preventive detention, a punishment reserved for the most serious of criminals because of the risk they pose to the public’s safety.

The men were accused of more than 450 incidents of abuse, most commonly rape, of 32 boys and girls, between 1998 and 2018. Their victims were aged between three and 14. Some of the children were holidaying at the camp in Lügde, close to Hamelin in northern Germany; others were visiting a girl who was being fostered by Andreas V, who was also raped by him and was in turn used to lure other children to his caravan.(The Guardian)…[+]