The Local Switzerland

Locked up for being different: The scandal of Switzerland's 'undesirables'

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 10:07:09 +0200

A pregnant teenage runaway, a former foster care child, an adolescent boy raped by priests: for decades, these were the kinds of people Switzerland locked up as "undesirables".

Swiss coach made covert videos of 80 primary school children in changing rooms

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 13:14:29 +0200

The 21-year-old football coach secretly filmed children from at least five primary schools between November 2017 and December 2018 at a swimming pool in the canton of Lucerne.

Switzerland to impose lifetime ban for paedophiles on working with children

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 11:22:41 +0200

Switzerland will ban all convicted paedophiles from working with children for life from next year, the government said on October 10th, announcing that it had converted a four-year-old referendum decision into law.

Man in Switzerland filmed neighbours' young daughters with camera hidden in pen

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 11:17:15 +0200

A 52-year-old resident of the northern Swiss town of Lucerne was found guilty of downloading child pornography and filming his neighbours' young daughters using a camera hidden in a pen.

Twenty percent of children in Switzerland are victims of domestic violence, says report

Fri, 06 Oct 2017 18:17:50 +0200

A new study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and Arts has found that one in five children in Switzerland is beaten in their domestic environment.

'Jeckyl and Hyde' paedophile gets eight years in prison

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 17:25:33 +0100

The 80-year-old husband of a child minder was handed the sentence by a Geneva court after being found guilty of sexually abusing two boys.

'Monstrous' child molester jailed 15 years

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 09:42:00 +0200

A 35-year-old man who sexually abused five girls of primary school age a total of more than 900 times was sentenced to a 15-year prison term by a court in the canton of Ticino on Monday.

Media executive jailed in latest 'sexting' case

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:23:00 +0200

A 57-year-old man who passed himself off as a 12-year-old girl in online chatrooms in order to obtain naked photos of children was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by a Zurich district court on Wednesday.

Vatican faces new UN grilling over sex abuse

Mon, 05 May 2014 16:16:00 +0200

A Geneva-based UN anti-torture watchdog on Monday began a two-day grilling of the Vatican over its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.

Vatican slammed over child abuse 'failures'

Wed, 05 Feb 2014 15:20:00 +0100

A UN committee in Geneva denounced the Vatican on Wednesday for failing to stamp out systematic child abuse and called on the Church to remove all clergy suspected of raping or molesting children.

UN calls on Vatican to account for child abuse

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0100

The Vatican was on Thursday pushed for the first time to provide answers to the United Nations in Geneva over its commitment to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.

Swiss ex-Olympic coach jailed for child sex abuse

Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:49:00 +0200

Switzerland's former Olympic swimming coach Flavio Bomio was jailed for 11 years on Friday for sexually abusing boys, two years after he was disgraced when victims came forward.

Swiss swim coach admits abuse of children

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 18:22:00 +0200

A former Swiss national swimming coach has admitted all charges against him of abuse of minors at his trial in Lugano in the canton of Ticino.

Swiss boarding school 'torture' history revealed

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:37:00 +0200

Thousands of children fell victim to violence and abuse in Catholic boarding schools in Switzerland up until the 1970s, according to a recent study decrying "sadistic" practices resembling "torture".

Elderly priest rejects sex abuse claims

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:24:00 +0200

An 82-year-old priest who was recently accused of carrying out sexual acts and sadistic punishments on children has said he has nothing to hide.

Child abuser led anti-sex ed campaign: report

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:53:50 +0200

One of the leaders campaigning against sex education in primary schools resigned on Thursday as details of his alleged involvement in child abuse came to light.

Sex box for kids sparks call to action

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:28:00 +0200

Politicians from different parties have joined forces for an initiative aimed at preventing children under the age of nine from receiving sex education just months after the use of educational "sex boxes" sparked uproar in Basel.

81-year-old Swiss arrested for child sex

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:11:00 +0200

An 81-year-old Swiss former magnet therapist has been arrested in Cambodia for the third time for sexually abusing children.

Force clergy to report paedophiles: Swiss MP

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:21:20 +0100

The National Council Law Commission will consult on Thursday on whether to amend the Criminal Code to prevent people who have sexually abused children from relying on religious secrecy privileges.

Sexual abuse on the rise among Swiss teens

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:37:25 +0100

In 2010, 24 percent of all defendants in cases involving sex crimes were minors themselves, police statistics show.