A teenage
boy who had been missing for more than two years was recently found in the
closet of a child pornography suspect in Germany.
Law
enforcement made the discovery while searching the apartment of a 44-year-old
man suspected of distributing child pornography in Recklinghausen, a city in
the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In a
statement, Recklinghausen police said: “The officers discovered a boy in the
closet. An investigation showed this was a 15-year-old boy who has been missing
for a long time.”
A police
spokesperson told CNN the victim, whose name has been kept anonymous, had been
missing for two and a half years.
The boy had
been living in a shelter when he was reported missing by social workers in
2017.
Officials said
it didn’t appear the boy was being kept against his will, but he remains in
police protection.
The boy’s
mother did an interview with German publication Bild am Sonntag after being
reunited with her son.
She said she
had barely recognized him and that he looked like a “broken old man.” She also
said he was still wearing the clothes he had on when he disappeared.
The tabloid reports that he told his mother he
had been locked up and not allowed to go outside.
An older
man, whose age is unknown, was reportedly in the home at the time and was also
arrested.
Equipment
discovered by sniffer dogs in the home is now being investigated, police said
in an additional statement.
