Frank Schmökel (born August 19, 1962) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

convicted murderer and child rapist who has escaped from prison on multiple occasions. Schmökel and his crimes have inspired national discussions of reforming the German justice system.

Early life

Schmökel was born on August 19, 1962, in

Strausberg Strausberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, located east of Berlin. With a population of about 27,000 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland. History Strausberg was founded ''circa'' 1240, and ...

, a small town in what was then

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, as son of a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officer. Schmökel was known to practice

zoophilia Zoophilia is a paraphilia in which a person experiences a sexual fixation on non-human animals. Bestiality instead refers to cross-species sexual activity between humans and non-human animals. Due to the lack of research on the subject, it is ...

. He had been a psychiatric patient since early childhood, claims his grandparents are holocaust survivors, and has argued numerous times in court that he is entitled to rape and murder Germans, especially German children.

Crimes and escapes

In 1988 Schmökel was sentenced to one and a half years imprisonment for the attempted rape of a 13-year-old. After escaping custody for a short time, he was sentenced to an additional ten months. In 1989, Schmökel was released early as part of a partial amnesty. After his release, Schmökel committed further crimes, including the rape of an eight-year-old. In 1993 he was convicted of four counts of sexual abuse by the district court of

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

for sexual abuse, and sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment in a psychiatric facility (Ger: ''Asklepios Klinikum Brandenburg).'' In 1994, Schmökel escaped from the psychiatric facility; he then raped an eleven-year-old girl in Quitzerow and tried to kill her. For this Schmökel was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 1995, Schmökel escaped again, but was arrested after one day. In 1996, he escaped again was arrested again three days later. In the spring of 1997, he escaped for a fifth time, but caught after a week police and relocated to the

Neuruppin Neuruppin (, , in contrast to ":de:Alt Ruppin, Old Ruppin"; ; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the noveli ...

State Clinic. There he broke out of prison again after six months, but was arrested the next day. As part of his therapy, Schmökel was given the opportunity in April 2000 to move freely outside the detention center, accompanied by carers. On October 25, 2000, he was allowed a visit to his mother in Strausberg, and took the opportunity to escape, severely injuring his mother and accompanying guardian with knife wounds. On November 2, 2000, he killed a 60-year-old pensioner in a Strausberg colony in which he was hiding, and stole the victim's car. Hundreds of police in Germany, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

searched for the fugitive, and successfully located Schmökel's escape vehicle and hideout in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

. Schmökel was apprehended in the town of Saritsch near Bautzen, East Saxony on November 6 and sentenced to life in prison to be followed by indefinite security detention (Sicherheitsverwahrung) in 2002. A final appeal was denied by the Federal Court of Justice of Germany in 2003.Pressemitteilung des BGH vom 20. November 2003
zum Urteil BGH 5 StR 468/03.

References

General reference

*Frank SCHMÖKEL, hg. von Tomas A. HARTMANN: ''Wenn Hexen Monster gebären. Die wahre Geschichte eines Scheusals'', Hartmann: Halle 2004. . *Thomas A. HARTMANN: ''When Witches give Birth to Monsters. The True Story of a Reprehensible Being'', Hartmann: Halle: 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmokel, Frank 1962 births German escapees Escapees from German detention Living people Anti-German sentiment in Europe