A babysitter in Munich, Germany, is facing trial for allegedly abusing a young boy nearly 1,000 times while staying with the child’s family and even sharing his bunk bed.
Florian K., 37, is accused of sexually abusing the boy over a period of seven years, beginning when the child was 11.
The Daily Mail reported that the boy’s mother, a single parent of two, had hired Florian K. as a babysitter in 2010 after finding his profile on a childcare website, according to German newspaper Bild.
However, unknown to her, Florian K. already had a criminal record for sexual abuse, which he concealed from prospective employers.
Prosecutors said he became a trusted figure in the family and was viewed as “a father figure for the victim.”
Over time, he began spending nights at the family’s home and occasionally slept in the boy’s bunk bed.
According to the prosecution, he would wait until everyone else was asleep before abusing the child. The abuse allegedly continued for years, sometimes happening daily.
Florian K. reportedly developed a coded system using emojis to signal the sexual acts he intended to commit.
Prosecutors said he would send the boy an open-mouth emoji as a demand for oral sex.
In court, it was revealed that he tried to manipulate the boy by telling him that while such acts were generally forbidden, “it was different because they were both having fun.”
Now standing trial at the Munich Regional Court, he faces charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Prosecutors claim the abuse occurred at least 993 times before the victim turned 18.
Florian K. has denied these allegations but admitted to abusing a six-year-old boy in 2008, for which he served a two-year sentence in youth detention.
He also told the court he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse while attending boarding school.
He said he struggled with social exclusion due to his criminal record, which made it difficult for him to secure employment. To increase his chances of finding work, he fabricated a new identity, falsely presenting himself as a psychologist and even pretending to have children.
The truth came to light in 2023 when the victim, now 25, confided in a fellow student, leading to a police investigation.
Authorities arrested Florian K. in early 2024 in Munich, and he has been in investigatory custody for over a year. The trial remains ongoing.
