Bonobo

Man without Childhood – From Victim to Offender.

E-book: 9,49 €

“Man Without Childhood – From Victim to Offender” brings together conversations with “Bonobo,” a pedophilic offender who was held in forensic psychiatric detention for almost two decades and, as an informant, provided insights into a sealed-off parallel world: commercially organized child abuse in Europe, the trafficking of children, the production and distribution of abuse images, and the prostitution of children—processes that, according to his account, also take place in Germany and run through all social milieus.

The text shows not only perpetrator logics, but also how social ostracism and the threat of punishment increase perpetrators’ vulnerability to blackmail—and how, in “Bonobo’s” depiction, this vulnerability is exploited by ringleaders to exert influence over politics, public administration, the judiciary, and the economy. The interviews were conducted in the visitors’ room of a forensic facility, initially under relatively relaxed conditions with a camera, later under increasingly restrictive conditions up to a partition window; finally, the conversations were broken off when conflicts between the informant and the institution escalated and “Bonobo” was transferred without notice. Over everything loomed the fact that a mafia-like structure continued to control the informant and set limits even while he was in forensic detention.

Note: The interview contains distressing content about sexualized violence against children.

Sample

The following excerpt comes from the full interview published in the publication.

HMV: What did you observe?

Bonobo: Everything up to the murder—everything, including murder.

HMV: Do you want to talk about it?

Bonobo: [Silence] … We can—yes! … [Silence]

HMV: If it becomes too much for you, please say so.

Bonobo: I’m still thinking about where to start. Today I know that so-called “snuff films” were made. What I personally saw and witnessed was [redacted: graphic description of sexual assault and a child’s death]. I was about nine. Most of the children simply didn’t come back. I found out later that they had disappeared—been killed. The very worst was Miriam. … I’ll jump ahead. It was 23 December 1980, two days after my birthday. Miriam was supposed to go to bed with a customer known to be extremely brutal. I didn’t want that; I resisted and tried everything. I bit, yelled, screamed, kicked, spat. But none of it helped—she had to go. … I said, “If Miriam has to go to that man now, then I’ll tell my mother everything.” After that I first got slapped. Then I was grabbed—I had long hair as a child. I was seized by the hair and dragged along, and Miriam too. I was held down, forced to watch. …