No-nonsense summary: In 2024 Germany recorded about 18,000 cases of sexualized violence against children and youths. Of these, 16,375 involved children and 1,191 involved adolescents; victims were 13,365 girls and 4,720 boys. In 57 percent of cases the victim knew the perpetrator. There were 12,368 suspects, about 95 percent male. Offenders tend to be young: roughly one third of child-sexual-abuse suspects were under 18, and 12.1 percent (about 1,498) were under 14 and thus not criminally accountable. The report links a growing share of offenses to online activity—cyber grooming and livestreamed abuse, sometimes watched by paying viewers who direct brutality. The interior minister proposed storing IP addresses for three months to aid investigations. The BKA president stressed that the figures are not a relief and that the dark figure remains, calling for more staff to illuminate it. The report notes many offenses occur within family or close circles. An exclusive piece from June 2025 states that images of sexualized violence online should not be proactively deleted.
Commentary (fiery, conspiratorial): So this is the couchette they’re riding on, huh? The numbers are hammered at us like a drumbeat to scare up more power for the state and the tech gatekeepers. “Dark figure” this, “more staff” that—it’s a grown-up version of crying wolf to justify bigger budgets and more surveillance. IP-address storage for three months? Wonderful, now the state and ISPs get a longer leash to map every internet step you take, all in the name of protecting children. don’t pretend it’s just about safety—it’s about control. When they tell you the figures aren’t “a relief,” they’re really saying, “we need more tools to police you, your kids, and your online life.”
And let’s be real about the online surge: cyber grooming and livestreamed abuse aren’t new phenomena, they’re symptoms of a system that wants to keep nailing platforms and users with more rules, more data, more leverage for investigators, and more pressure on parental and cultural norms. The idea that under-14 suspects are not criminally accountable is a legal quirk, not a social salvation; the real fix is better prevention, education, and support for victims, not a ramp to criminalize more kids or peel back civil liberties in the name of “protection.”
That “don’t proactively delete images” line is a slap in the face to victims and a goldmine for predators. If anything, content should be removed swiftly, with proper oversight, not left to sit because some policy won’t bite the bullet. It’s a cheap tactic to keep the exploitation networks alive and well while they posture about “justice.” They posture about staffing, but who pays for it? who truly benefits from expanded data retention and platform policing? not the kids—it’s the surveillance state and the big platforms cashing in on fear.
Bottom line: the numbers reveal a brutal truth, but the policy response being pushed is more about control and fear-mongering than about real, practical protection. Fund real prevention, give child-protection services the resources they need, improve digital literacy for families, and hold platforms accountable for failing to curb abuse. Stop using victims as pawns to push shady “security” measures that end up tightening the screws on everyday people.