German goes on trial for abusing 8 of own children

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 54-year-old German went on trial on Wednesday charged with sexually abusing eight of his own children, a court in the city of Trier said.

Prosecutors in the western city have accused the man of 97 counts of serious sexual abuse, including one of rape, against four daughters and four sons in the period 1991-2007. The children were born between 1979 and 1994, the court said.

A court spokeswoman said the man was a German citizen who had immigrated to the country with his family.

The court documents showed the suspect may have abused one of his sons when the victim was as young as seven.

According to the prosecution, the man sometimes threatened to harm the children or their mother if they spoke to others of what he had done. At other times he asked them for forgiveness, saying he was compelled to act out of illness.

Local daily the Trierischer Volksfreund said the suspect had emigrated from Russia and was a jobless trucker who had fathered 14 children in total. The suspect's lawyer said his client would make a partial confession, the newspaper added.

The trial is scheduled to continue until early July.

(Writing by Dave Graham; editing by Andrew Roche)