Overview

• State security in Lower Saxony classified the girl as a threat after a rapid online radicalization earlier this year, according to the family minister’s report.
• The Paderborn youth office contacted more than 50 facilities from April without success, prompting the district administrator in mid-May to seek help from four state ministers.
• On August 16 the 13-year-old allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old caregiver in the LWL youth psychiatric clinic, a homicide commission is investigating, and the caregiver is out of immediate danger.
• After the clinic sought to refuse further admission, the Higher Regional Court in Hamm rejected the provider’s complaint and the girl was returned to psychiatric care, reportedly in isolation.
• Because she is 13 and below Germany’s age of criminal responsibility, she cannot be prosecuted, shifting the response toward protective and psychiatric measures.