The 10-year-old girl who was raped and murdered at a German children’s home had been taken from her family amid abuse allegations – only to be bullied by the 11-year-old boy who would eventually strangle her to death , she appeared.
The victim, identified only as Lena, would be so harassed and teased by her would-be killer that she would often spend her time crying.
The abuse came to a head in April when Lena was found semi-naked and unconscious at the Wunsiedel Child and Youth Welfare Center in Germany’s Bavaria region, with police suspecting the 11-year-old had killed her.
And tragically, shortly before she was killed, it emerged that a 25-year-old German man, identified only as Daniel T, had raped the 10-year-old girl when he met her as he tried to rob the children’s home. House.
But it now appears Lena had a tragic childhood, with her parents divorcing when she was just five, according to family friends.
Lena, who loved swimming and horse riding, lived with her mother and new partner in eastern Germany, but was taken away from her family to live in a children’s home when allegations of abuse at the home have surfaced, reports Picture.
Her father had fought for custody of Lena so she could live with him, but the courts refused and placed her in the care of Wunsiedel retirement home in October last year.
But it was in this nursing home that the tragic Lena was constantly harassed by the 11-year-old boy and his friends.
Lena, who was raped and murdered in a German children’s home, was taken from her family amid abuse allegations – only to be bullied by the 11-year-old boy who would eventually strangle her to death, a- we learned. emerged (Children’s Home archive image)
Daniel T, 25, accused of raping the 10-year-old girl, is pictured left. Family Minister Ulrike Scharf (right) leaves the Child and Youth Welfare Center to lay flowers outside the facility in April
“Lena was teased by a lot of people, even quite often. And just because she was a bit bigger, I always thought it was really mean of other people. That’s why Lena got a lot of cried,” said a nine-year-old boy who was also bullied by the 11-year-old. Picture.
After months of harassment, the 11-year-old boy allegedly strangled the little girl to death on April 4 after an argument.
German police also revealed that 25-year-old Daniel T, believed to be a garbage collector, entered the social facility through an open toilet window on the night the victim was killed.
Daniel T, who lives locally, allegedly tried to steal from the children’s home when he came across the 11-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl. Police suspect burglar sexually assaulted victim before leaving facility, reports Onetz.
That same night, prosecutors say the 11-year-old boy, who was the girl’s roommate, got into a fight with the victim and murdered her. They don’t believe Daniel T was involved in his murder.
The boy has not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility, which is 14, and has therefore been held in a secure facility since April.
Tragically, Lena’s father, whose identity has not been revealed, had planned to take his daughter on vacation on Thursday, two days after her murder.
“Her dad was hoping to be able to bring Lena home with him soon,” said Sandra B, 33, a friend of Lena’s dad. Picture.
“Lena was fun loving, she was a math pro. She could play the piano, loved swimming, biking, rollerblading and horseback riding,” added Sandra B.
Lena’s friend, a nine-year-old boy who lived at the children’s home, said, “Lena was my friend. I loved her very much, she was kind and sweet. She also didn’t scream as loud as the others. And she did very well in school, unlike me.
The boy, who remains anonymous, said Lena was bullied by the 11-year-old boy who would eventually kill her. The nine-year-old also revealed he was also targeted by the killer and attacked with a baseball bat before his parents brought him home.
“Once the caretaker was cleaning the roof and huge clumps of mud fell. The 11 year old boy, who had such dark curls, then picked it up and threw it at me.
“When I tell him to stop, I usually tell teachers, he ran to a bush and pulled out a hidden baseball bat. He then hit me on the back, very hard. It hurt me so much for days.
The nine-year-old victim claims that when he told staff, they told him it was “his own fault”.
He also claimed that the 11-year-old often watched violent films at the children’s home. “He then said he was watching movies about murders and not seeing any blood,” the little boy said.
In April, a police patrol car blocked the road leading to the Wunsiedel Children’s and Youth Centre.
At the time Lena was allegedly strangled to death, she and the 11-year-old boy was one of the few children left in the house at the time of the murder, as most of the other young people living there were on a skiing holiday, reports Picture. Sandra said Lena didn’t go skiing because she was “afraid” of the slopes.
Shortly before her murder, Lena was allegedly raped by Daniel T and last month prosecutors filed charges against the 25-year-old for rape, burglary and arson.
He is suspected of having committed five burglaries between 2022 and 2023 and of having stolen construction machinery worth £13,700 (16,000 euros) from containers which he set on fire in an attempt to erase evidence .
At the time of the girl’s murder, the child and youth protection center in the small town of Wunsiedel, which houses around 90 children and adolescents, said it was “deeply shocked” by her death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with parents, family, our children and our colleagues,” he said in a statement.
Shortly after the little girl’s murder, Sandra said: “I am stunned, speechless. I am at a loss for words. I don’t understand why it happened like that.
“And that (it happened) in a home where the supervision would have been there, where as a parent you think everything is fine.”
On its website, the institute describes itself as supporting “young people and their families who need help with their education”.
Lena’s brutal murder comes just a month after that of 12-year-old Luise Frisch, who was found dead in March in the western town of Freudenberg after being stabbed multiple times.
His killers, Luisa Halberstadt, 13, and Anna-Marie Hoffman, 12, stabbed their victim 32 times with a nail file before pushing her down a steep embankment in nearby woods.
The classmates also put a plastic bag over Luise’s head before one of them told the other, in an icy tone, to “hit her with a stone, otherwise she would lie down at side of her.”
Both men have confessed to the crime but will avoid punishment as they are too young to bear criminal responsibility in Germany.
Police fear Luise was alive before she was thrown into the embankment and died from her injuries and the freezing conditions that hit the area in early March.
