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A 51-year-old man who is wanted in the UK for making indecent images of children has been brought before a special Saturday session of the Supreme Court with an extradition order.
Olaf Raetzel, a German citizen working in Dublin as a content moderator, is wanted in the UK on charges of sexual exploitation of children and alleged child abuse material.
Raetzel, residing in Temple Gardens, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9, was arrested by detectives from the garda extradition unit on Friday and was brought before a special session of the Superior Court on Saturday, where he was taken into custody.
Detective Sergeant Jim Kirwan, who heads the garda’s extradition unit, presented evidence of arrest, indictment and warning.
He said he met the man he believed to be Mr. Raetzel at his address in Santry on Friday night and when asked if he knew what it was about, Mr. Raetzel replied “yes,” the detective said.
Sergeant Kirwan said Raetzel spoke perfect English and worked for a professional services company that moderates online content for a Dublin-based social media giant.
The attorney for the Minister of Justice, Leo Mulrooney BL, told the court that Mr. Raetzel was being surrendered on three counts of taking indecent photographs of children. The maximum penalty for each offense in the UK is 10 years in prison.
Mulrooney said UK authorities searched Raetzel’s home in 2015 after linking him to allegedly uploading indecent images of children online.
His computer was seized by UK authorities and found to contain 21 files allegedly comprised of seven “category A” videos, five “category B” videos and nine “category C” images, Sgt. Kirwan said.
UK police were supposed to re-interview Raetzel in November 2015, but did not attend and the Crown Prosecution Office has since ordered his indictment, Mulrooney said.
Sitting for the specially convened court on Saturday afternoon, Judge Mary Rose Gearty said she was satisfied that the man before her was Olaf Raetzel and that he was the man whose surrender was sought. She put him in custody until September 29.
Mr. Raetzel’s attorney, Gerard Giblin BL, told Judge Gearty that his client would apply for bail at a later date and that free legal assistance would be sought.
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