Former Germany and Real Madrid footballer is being investigated by German police over allegations of distributing child pornography through the messaging service WhatsApp. The German prosecutors confirmed the news on Wednesday regarding Christoph Metzelder allegations.
Christoph Metzelder, 38, who was also 2002 World Cup finalist is alleged to have used WhatsApp in order to send pornographic photos of children to a woman in Hamburg, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg prosecutor’s office, Liddy Oechtering said.
Oechtering said in a statement to AFP, “We can confirm an investigation against Christoph Metzelder on suspicion of sharing child pornography, including digital images,”
Hamburg police after receiving the complaint carried out two searches in Dusseldorf on Tuesday. Metzelder on the other hand is said to have co-operated with the authorities.
The material collected from the searches is now going to be evaluated, and the investigation carries on.
The recipient of the photos was then later interrogated as a witness after a third person had reported the transfer of images to Hamburg police, Oechtering later make it clear to national news agency DPA.
The spokeswoman also confirmed the reports that investigators had carried out raids in two locations on Tuesday, but then she refused to give any further information regarding the case.
As per to a report in Der Spiegel magazine, the raids which were held on Tuesday was on Metzelder’s home as well as offices in Duesseldorf, and led to the seizure of a laptop along with a mobile phone.
Oechtering also added her statement by saying that the footballer had not been arrested, adding that “we are currently analysing the materials seized”.
Metzelder has played for key clubs like Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in a career that had crossed 15 years.
He retired from football in the year 2014 and has since then he worked as a pundit for Sky Sports Germany as well as he is a president of his local club TuS Haltern.
Since the year 2006, the 38-year-old has run a foundation in his own name in order to support socially deprived children all over Germany.
The ex-footballer has also lately appeared as a pundit on public broadcaster ARD, which said on Wednesday that it had been “suspended the co-operation until the accusations have been clarified”.
It is also the second high-profile legal case linking a former Germany defender in two days.
Prosecutors in Munich has also confirmed on Tuesday that Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng was under inquiry for a reported dangerous assault on his ex-partner.
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