In Bavaria the number of people convicted of sexually abusing children has risen. This is according to the criminal prosecution statistics for 2025, presented by Justice Minister Josef Schmid on 11 November 2026 in Munich The number of convictions in this category of offences was 9.2 per cent higher than the previous year.
The justice system also recorded an increase in cases involving depictions of sexual violence against children. According to the Justice Ministry, 969 people were convicted with final effect for distributing, acquiring or possessing such material. That was 11.1 per cent more than in 2024. The authority uses the legal term ‘child pornography’ for this material.
The two figures relate to different categories of offences. The first concerns convictions for sexually abusing children; the second, convictions relating to depictions. The figures do not directly show how many children were affected or how many assaults took place in total.
The criminal prosecution statistics compiled by the Bavarian State Office for Statistics cover cases concluded with final effect in Bavarian criminal courts. A considerable time may pass between an offence, the court’s judgment and that judgment becoming final. The convictions reported for 2025 therefore do not relate exclusively to offences committed that year. Offences that are not reported or solved do not appear in these statistics.
According to the German Press Agency, Minister Schmid attributed the rise in part to greater success in investigations. He also expressed the belief that the number of offences had risen. The minister’s assessment should be distinguished from the convictions recorded in the statistics: the statistics alone do not quantify the unreported figure.
At the presentation, Schmid referred to the Centre for Combating Child Pornography and Sexual Abuse on the Internet. It is based at the Bavaria’s Central Cybercrime Office According to the ministry, prosecutors there work against paedocriminal platforms. The published figures do not show how much their work has contributed to the trend in conviction numbers.
By contrast, the number of people convicted with final effect in Bavaria fell across all offences. In 2025, the courts convicted 105,938 people in total, 4.3 per cent fewer than in 2024. Of those convicted, 3,815 were young people, 11.2 per cent fewer than the previous year. The overall trend therefore masks differences between individual categories of offences.
For the child protection In addition to law enforcement, other agencies also have responsibility for these matters. In September 2026, Bavaria’s Ministry of Family Affairs pointed to cooperation between the police, the justice system and social services. The Bavarian Child Protection Centre serves as a state-wide centre of expertise, according to the ministry. Criminal convictions can establish that offences have been committed and punish those responsible; they cannot replace early support for children at risk.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).