Berlin Man Charged With 22 Rapes of Unconscious Women

A 68-year-old man in Berlin has been charged with 22 counts of raping women who prosecutors say were unconscious, with investigators also believing the assaults may have involved as many as 60 victims.

Berlin prosecutors said they have indicted the German national, an electrician who has not been named, on charges covering sexual assault of 14 women. They said he has been in custody since March and that the offences were allegedly filmed.

Investigators believe that the suspect may have attacked up to 60 people, based on video material gathered during an ongoing probe. Prosecutors said the case formed part of a wider pattern of high-profile series offences in which victims were targeted without their knowledge and the assaults were recorded.

Charges and alleged victims

Prosecutors said the indictment relates to 22 counts involving 14 women. They also said their investigation has uncovered numerous alleged offences against a total of 58 women.

They added that 10 of the women had not yet been identified.

Prosecutors said the charges are framed not only around sexual violence, but also around violations of the right to one’s own image. They said the suspect is alleged to have recorded each offence, and that this element is part of the legal basis for the charges.

Sedation and online approach

Prosecutors said the suspect is accused of sedating the women using various sleeping tablets combined with alcohol, before allegedly raping them.

They said the victims were allegedly lured beforehand through online dating platforms.

Several people believed to have been attacked told investigators they could not remember the alleged assaults, and they only became aware of what had happened after the videos were found.

Prosecutors said the man had not responded to the charges.

How investigators built the case

The case emerged after a tip from police in Lower Saxony. In early 2025, officers there were investigating similar allegations against another man who later died. Prosecutors said that man had been in contact with the Berlin suspect through online chats.

The tip led Berlin police to search the suspect’s home in the Friedrichsfelde suburb. During the search, officers reportedly discovered a large set of digital files.

In 2026, an investigator found several videos of sexual assaults in which the suspect is believed to be the attacker. Police then carried out another raid at his flat in March of this year and detained him.

Parallels with other cases

Prosecutors said the allegations have prompted comparisons with other incidents investigated in Germany this year, including cases in Berlin and Munich involving drugged women whose assaults were recorded.

German media also drew parallels with the highly publicised trial of Gisèle Pelicot in France, in which her husband was convicted of drugging and abusing her and offering her unconscious to multiple strangers to be raped. The comparisons were drawn by media reports, rather than by prosecutors in Berlin.

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16 July 2026