Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Instagram 'Influencer for God' Catholic priest Hanno Rother gets suspended sentence over child abuse pictures

A Catholic priest, Hanno Rother, who called himself “church dude” and was popular on Instagram has been handed a suspended sentence after the authorities discovered thousands of child pornography images on his computer.

The self-styled "Influencer for God", who presented himself as the next generation's Catholic priest, from Recklinghausen, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was found to have over 2,500 images of child porn on his machine.

The images were seized in his study, where local media speculated he also wrote his sermons. 

Thousands of them depict naked girls, the youngest perhaps nine years old.

Prosecutors said: "Several files show serious sexual abuse by men."