German mother accused of ‘abandoning four-year-old son’ acquitted

Sabrina Albrecht, a German mother who was accused of abandoning her son after he was allegedly discovered “wandering alone in a field in Gozo”, has been acquitted of the charges after the court ruled that the child was never in danger.

The court heard that on 17 June, police had received an anonymous tip-off that “an unsupervised child was roaming and crying in the fields in Marsalforn.”

The boy, his brother, and a nine-year-old girl were found to be living in Gozo at a shelter for mothers with social problems run by a German NGO. After noting that the German Youth Welfare Office had claimed that the children were taken out of the country “illegally”, an emergency temporary care order took the children under the custody of Appogg social workers.  

However, some days later, Albrecht’s sons were secretly flown out of Malta by German social workers who pretended to be taking them to the beach – an action which a Gozo court claimed it highlighted Apogg’s “deplorable” inaction.

In court, Albrecht admitted that she had let her son play in the fields across her apartmentunsupervised. Despite not being aware of her son’s exact whereabouts, Albrecht was however adamant that the child was not in any danger.

The court heard that even though the accused told police that she not aware of her son’s exact whereabouts, other mothers who were living in the apartment could see the child from the balcony.

In their testimony, Jutta Wiedekind – the mother of a nine-year-old girl who was living in the same apartment – told the court that there were about five children who ,despite being allowed to play and roam in the fields, “were always in sight of their parents.”

Moreover, Wiedekind stated that “it was normal for the children to play inside and outside the apartment, even in the fields,” and that when the police arrived, the boy went upstairs.

Taking the witness stand, WPC Althea Sammut told the court that on the day of the incident, the accused told her that she could not see where her son was and that she could only see him from the balcony.

Echoing Sammut, Constable David Xerri stated that when questioned, Albrecht  “acted like nothing had happened, and that she thought that her child was up on the roof.” Moreover, the police officer explained that the child was not in the middle of the street, but was conversely, “sitting on the stairs.”

Taking this into account, Magistrate Neville Camilleri insisted that since the child was found on the stairs, and that one of the balconies overlooks the fields, the child was not in danger.

Moreover, the court stated that it “is not satisfied that the accused meant to abandon her child,” and consequently acquitted Sabrina Albrecht of all charges “due to the lack of sufficient evidence.”

Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri led the prosecution.