Overview

• The 20-year-old suspect was arrested on June 18 in Hamburg and is accused of coercing children into self-harm and sexual abuse, resulting in the death of a 13-year-old boy.
• Investigators seized nearly 12 terabytes of video material during a 2023 raid and are conducting detailed analysis of over 127 hours of footage.
• Prosecutors obtained a formal arrest warrant at the end of May after being limited to issuing warnings to the suspect for months.
• The case, aided by FBI intelligence since February 2023, underscored legal gaps in data retention and prompted calls for three months of electronic records storage.
• Child protection advocates and officials are demanding stricter social media age limits and platform accountability to prevent online exploitation.