Trial Accused former Aargau councillor wants to take responsibility

The man accused of exhibitionism testified before the Olten-Gösgen SO district court on the second day of the trial. The 55-year-old former politician from Aargau said that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.

"I was very affected by the questioning. I am sorry for all those who had to experience something traumatic," he said in court. He is accused of sexually molesting 35 girls aged 13 and over and women by showing himself naked to them and in some cases even touching them.

He could no longer remember the details, the accused said about many of the incidents from 2017 to 2022. Physical violence was "a no-go" for him because he himself had experienced a lot of violence in his childhood. And he had not deliberately assaulted underage girls.

Difficult to assess the age of young women

"I often only saw the women from behind beforehand and couldn't estimate their age." It was certainly not his aim to abuse minors.

The age of young women is sometimes difficult to estimate, depending on their appearance. Because some of the victims were between 13 and 15 years old, he has been charged with "multiple sexual acts with children".

"Never asked for the time"

The accused denied many of the other incidents. "I never asked about the time," said the 55-year-old. Several witnesses had testified that the man had first asked about the time during his exhibitionist acts.

The accused also denied that he had been riding his bike naked: "I never rode my bike naked." The accused did not want to recognize himself in the photo that a victim had taken with a smartphone.

SDA