Overview
- The 20-year-old Deutsch-Iraner, identified as Shahriar J., was arrested at his parents’ Hamburg home on June 18 and transferred to the juvenile facility on Elbinsel Hahnöfersand under multiple charges including murder and possession of child pornography.
- Prosecutors allege he coerced eight children aged 11 to 15 from Germany, England, Canada and the US to inflict self-harm in live-chat sessions between January 2021 and September 2023, leading to one confirmed suicide and one attempted suicide.
- Investigators seized a notebook, tablet, phone and external hard drive during the arrest, and experts at the Landeskriminalamt are conducting a forensic analysis of the digital files.
- Public prosecutor Mia Sperling-Karstens confirmed there is no evidence implicating the suspect’s parents in the crimes, and they are not under investigation.
- The suspect denies all allegations and is slated for a psychiatric evaluation as authorities continue to probe his links to the international sadistic internet group ‘764’.