Mönchengladbach / Viersen (dpa) – A nightmare: parents thought their children were in good hands in the daycare centers. But their little ones were in real danger. During the investigation into the murder of a suspect childcare worker, the authorities came across further incidents in three former kindergartens of the 25-year-olds. Unlike little Greta in Viersen, other children survived – even if a boy subsequently had unexplained seizures. Parents would first have to cope with this finding, said Manfred Joch, head of the crime directorate of the Mönchengladbach police on Thursday: “Relatives go through a difficult time.”
The little Greta mother had brought her child back to the Corona emergency group of a day care center after weeks of April 21, as the head of the homicide commission, Guido Bosskamp said. Before that, the child was well looked after by the godmother: a robust, happy and healthy girl. On that day, Greta was the only child in this emergency group – cared for by the 25-year-old child-care worker and a colleague.
There was lunch at 1 p.m., then the little one got tired: Between 1.20 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. she was put to bed. The supervisor said goodbye. The 25-year-old educator was now alone with the child. At 15-minute intervals, she claims to have checked her breath by placing her hand on Greta’s chest, as she said in a hearing, according to Bosskamp. At 2:45 p.m. the teacher no longer wants to have noticed breathing. The child was unresponsive, the body pale and blue.
The emergency doctor brought the little one to the children’s clinic in Viersen. The child was kept alive with machines. Greta had brain damage due to lack of oxygen. On May 4, the child, who had previously been so happy and healthy, suffered brain death.
Forensic doctors found traces that indicated violence. For the investigators, only the educator is considered a perpetrator – even if traces are still being evaluated. The prosecutor’s office assumes insidious murder, as prosecutor Lothar Gathen said.
During her investigation into daycare facilities where the woman previously worked, the appalling realization came: “We found that there were similar incidents there,” said Manfred Joch. Among other things, the investigators assume that a child has been attacked in a daycare center in Tönisvorst. In that case, the suspect got help in good time.
There, a nearly two-year-old girl stopped breathing at a changing station. The child was previously completely healthy and unremarkable. The prosecutor’s office is now investigating those who have been subjected to abuse. According to the police, the child subsequently said that the teacher had pressed him on the stomach.
There are said to have been five attacks on a single child in Krefeld. Four attacks on a child in a facility in Kempen. In both daycare centers, the investigation is still at the beginning, as the spokesmen said. Because none of the incidents had been reported to the police.
Who is this educator? At the press conference, the misunderstanding became clear how such a person could work in daycare for so long. When she was recognized in August 2017 in a facility in Krefeld, the police said that it was clear from the first few days that this was the wrong job for the woman: no empathy, no access to children, no ability to show boundaries. In the end she got it in writing: “little suitable” was in the rating. Nevertheless, she ended up taking her exam as a state-certified educator.
Even if the victims are still very small, they speak their own language. The mother of the affected boy in Krefeld told the investigators that her boy had developed an aversion to the daycare center when the woman started working. The child could not express himself linguistically and therefore showed it differently. The child did not want to go back to the daycare center until the teacher left the facility.
The educator was arrested on May 19 and is in custody. According to the investigators, she has exercised her right to remain silent. According to the prosecutor, there is no psychiatric report. The young woman didn’t want to talk anymore.
An incident in the past year makes it clear that something may be wrong with her. There she reported to the police that she had been the victim of a crime, as the head of the homicide commission said. A coroner subsequently found that she had taught herself injuries. At that time, she was advised to get psychological treatment.
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