State prosecutors in the German city of Frankfurt am Main confirmed to DW on Monday that they had charged a former teacher on more than 100 counts of sexual abuse involving children and young people.

The 47-year-old man from Göttingen has been in pre-trial detention since January, according to the AFP news agency.

The crimes are said to have taken place from 1998 to the end of 2021.

What do we know about the case?

The accused is charged with serious sexual abuse of children and others in his care.

German authorities were said to have been alerted by US investigators, who alleged that the man had spread child sex abuse material on the internet. A search of the man's apartment then turned up indications of his alleged crimes recorded on data storage devices.

The indictment contains 64 charges of abusing children aged below 14 and 35 charges of abusing juveniles aged 14 to 17.

Edited by: Rob Turner

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