Former Real Madrid Footballer Christoph Metzelder to Appear in Court on Child Pornography Charges

Former Real Madrid Footballer Christoph Metzelder to Appear in Court on Child Pornography Charges.

FORMER German international Christoph Metzelder, who was capped 47 times for his country, has found out on Monday, February 22, that he will have to attend Düsseldorf District Court on April 29 – charged with 29 cases of allegedly distributing child pornography, according to the court.

The 40-year-old, who played for Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, “is accused of having sent pictures with child pornographic content to a recipient in Hamburg via the WhatsApp communication platform. As part of the search, data carriers were taken as evidence for inspection,” a statement from the Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office read.

So far, the district court has set three dates for the process until mid-May. Until then, Metzelder is still considered innocent.

On 4 September 2020, the district court of the city of Düsseldorf announced that an official charge had been filed against Metzelder by the prosecutor.

The district court stated in a press release that one female witness received 10 child pornographic pictures, another female witness received 16 child pornographic pictures and 2 child pornographic videos and a third female witness received 1 child pornographic picture – all distributed by using Metzelder’s WhatsApp account.

The statement also mentioned nearly 300 media files with child pornographic content having been found on Metzelder’s confiscated cell phone.

Metzelder’s lawyers tried to keep his name out of the press, however, the Higher Administrative Court for North Rhine-Westphalia Münster stated they had no problem with naming the former German defender to the media.

According to a spokeswoman, the Senate pointed to the “prominence of the applicant and his previous commitment to children and adolescents, specifically also to the fight against child abuse”.

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