Society is a community of people with shared interests who actively interact with one another, shaped by both external and internal factors. To keep society functioning in a stable way, humanity has developed various traditions, moral rules and, ultimately, legal norms that provide for punishment of those who do not comply with the established rules.
To reduce the number of offenses committed, however, particular attention is paid to studying the motives behind them. While adults are often driven by a desire to obtain things that are, for whatever reason, out of their reach, or to carry out long-cherished plans, teenagers usually act spontaneously and under the influence of emotion.
One of our law firm’s clients was Arthur (name changed), a fourteen-year-old from a good family who had never been in trouble with the law before.
The situation that led to criminal proceedings against our client began with an ordinary party: a group of classmates had arranged to meet at the weekend at the holiday home of one of their families. The group was not large, and one of the teenagers had somehow got hold of alcohol for them. Since the teenagers were not used to drinking, they quickly became drunk. One of the classmates, Regina (name changed), was practically semi-conscious, and the boys began joking that anything could be done to her now without her even noticing. Regina did not react to her friends’ teasing, so Arthur, carried away by the teenagers’ not always appropriate jokes, suggested unhooking Regina’s bra to see whether she would at least react to that. But as soon as our client slipped his hands under his classmate’s T-shirt, she abruptly pulled away and told him to stop. Arthur realized that Regina really was very drunk and therefore took her to the garden house so that she could rest for a while. When everyone set off for home at the end of the evening, our client walked Regina, who had still not fully come round, to her house and then went home himself.
The following week, the details of the party were discussed at length at school, and a rumor went round that Regina, who had been left at the end of the evening exclusively in the company of boys, had been so out of control that anyone could have done whatever they wanted with her. Regina, who could clearly remember only the beginning of the evening, was horrified and devastated by the rumors spreading rapidly through the school and did not know where to hide from her classmates’ mocking looks. After a few days of constant ridicule at school, Regina could bear it no longer and confided in her parents, hoping they could put an end to her classmates’ taunts. When her parents learned from their daughter what was being gossiped about at school, however, they were appalled by what had happened and decided to involve the police immediately.
During questioning, Regina was accompanied by her mother and stated that she remembered the events of that evening only vaguely because she had drunk a lot of alcohol. She was, however, not sure whether Arthur had put his hands under her T-shirt and tried to unhook her bra — after which she added that he had also touched her breast.
Since it turned out that Regina was the youngest in the class and had been only 13 at the time, criminal proceedings were opened against our client under § 176 Abs. 1 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), which provides that sexual acts performed on a child under the age of 14 are punishable by imprisonment of one to fifteen years. At the same time, the medical examination that was carried out established that Regina had not been subjected to any further sexual acts.
Arthur, who had not attached any particular importance to the situation at school and had not taken part in the gossip, was very surprised when the police summoned him for questioning a few days after the incident. Arthur’s parents could not believe that criminal proceedings for sexual abuse of a child were being brought against their son, a fourteen-year-old boy. They therefore asked him to tell them honestly what had really happened at the party.
Frightened and ashamed, Arthur told them about the alcohol, about the jokes about the very drunk Regina, about how, as part of those jokes, he had wanted to unhook her bra, and so on. He firmly denied, however, having done so with any sexual intention, especially since he had stopped immediately when Regina asked him to. Moreover, he knew that Regina had a boyfriend, with whom he was also on friendly terms but who had not been at the party, so he could not have had anything in mind other than this ill-judged joke.
After hearing their son out, Arthur’s parents immediately contacted Regina’s mother to explain the situation. She, however, flatly refused to listen to any arguments, convinced that our client’s parents were simply trying to cover up something for which their son was responsible.
When Arthur’s parents realized that the situation had gone beyond an ordinary dispute and moved onto a legal footing, they decided not to lose any time and to turn to an experienced criminal defense lawyer who could help their son prove his innocence.
The lawyer listened carefully to Arthur and his parents and explained that, in order to represent the client’s interests successfully, the entire investigation file (Ermittlungsakte) first had to be requested and reviewed. This would show what evidence the public prosecutor’s office (Staatsanwaltschaft) actually had and which facts (evidence) the prosecution was relying on. In this way, the necessary counterarguments could be found and the client’s defense properly built.
After inspecting the investigation file, which the public prosecutor’s office had sent to our law firm upon written request, the lawyer was able to form a complete picture of the case. He informed Arthur’s parents that Regina had given statements twice, and that they were confused and in places contradictory. Moreover, our client’s classmate had admitted that she herself could remember almost nothing and had relied on rumors circulating at school. All the classmates who had been at the party were questioned as witnesses, but their statements also diverged on many points, which likewise worked in Arthur’s favor.
Having gathered the necessary information, the lawyer began drafting a formal letter to the public prosecutor’s office setting out the client’s legal position and carefully substantiating it. In this letter, the lawyer first argued that the concept of “sexual acts” (sexuelle Handlungen) under § 176 StGB did not apply to what Arthur had done to Regina. Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that, according to legal commentaries and current case law, such acts must have a clear outward character with a sexual purpose, which was evidently absent in this specific case, since Arthur had merely tried to carry on his classmates’ joke. In addition, our client had stopped trying to unhook the bra immediately after Regina asked him to, and he had neither touched the girl’s breast nor intended to do so.
The allegation that our client had touched Regina’s bare breast was not confirmed by any of the classmates’ witness statements. Moreover, Regina had made this accusation only during the first interview, at which her mother was also present. At the second interview, conducted without her parents, Regina no longer made this claim.
The lawyer further pointed out that our client had always been well-disposed toward his classmate. That was why, when he realized that Regina really was very drunk, he had taken her into the house so that she could rest for a while and had then gone back to his classmates in the garden — and why, after the party, Arthur had personally walked her home. These facts were confirmed by the classmates’ statements and by Regina herself. All this showed that Arthur had had nothing but good intentions toward his classmate and that the attempt to unhook her bra had simply been a misguided teenage joke without any sexual motive.
Our lawyer also pointed out that Arthur and Regina had always got on well and often dealt with each other in class, but that their relationship had never gone beyond friendship. It was also noted that Arthur had not known that Regina was only 13, since everyone else in the class had already turned 14 at that time.
The lawyer therefore insisted that the criminal proceedings against our client be discontinued for lack of evidence supporting the accusation (§ 170 Abs. 2 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, Strafprozessordnung, StPO).
Before the public prosecutor’s office had reached a decision in this case, however, a second set of criminal proceedings was opened against our client and three other teenagers who had been at the party, accusing them of jointly committed sexual abuse under § 176 Abs. 2 StGB. The reason was that Regina had also told the police that, while she was in the garden house, classmates had come in and tried to force her into sexual acts. The lawyer noted, however, that in Regina’s statements our client was mentioned only as the person who had taken her to that little house. The other witnesses’ statements also showed that, after taking Regina into the house so that she could sleep, Arthur had stayed in the garden with his classmates the whole time. On the basis of these facts and a detailed account of the situation from our client’s perspective, the lawyer also called for the second set of proceedings against Arthur to be discontinued, since our client’s guilt could not be proven.
The public prosecutor’s office examined all the investigation files and the arguments submitted by our lawyer in detail, and then decided to discontinue both sets of criminal proceedings against our client under § 170 Abs. 2 StPO — exactly the outcome our lawyer had been working toward.
This case from our law firm’s practice shows that even in the most difficult situations, involving personal and highly sensitive matters, the right way out can be found. To that end, we strongly recommend contacting a qualified lawyer with experience in such matters without delay — one who can protect your interests and those of your family quickly and effectively, and without placing an undue emotional burden on you.
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