BERLIN (AP) 鈥� They called themselves the 鈥淕erman driving school for experts,” but prosecutors say the true purpose of was to brag about the women they raped and share tips about how to drug them.
In posts that sometimes included photos and videos of their attacks on unconscious victims, they referred to women as 鈥渃ars,鈥� sedatives as 鈥渇uel鈥� and rape as 鈥渄riving,鈥� according to court documents. They called their victims 鈥渄ead pigs.鈥�
Investigators have been poring through several years’ worth of posts in roughly two dozen group chats on the popular messaging app that authorities believe served an online predator network of mainly targeting mostly Chinese women in . Their investigation has led to the convictions of three alleged inner circle members on rape and other charges, and the ongoing trial of a fourth man in Berlin.
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EDITOR鈥橲 NOTE: This story includes discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-656-4673 in the U.S., 116 016 in Germany or 15117905157 in China.
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鈥淭he perpetrators were characterized by a particular ruthlessness, an objectification of the victims, and the perfidious planning of their crimes,鈥� Frankfurt chief prosecutor Dominik Mies told The Associated Press.
Major details of the investigation remain unknown, at least to the public, including how many attacks and perpetrators have been linked to the German and how the chats, some of which reportedly had tens of thousands of members, could have operated for so long. It’s also unclear if the chats are linked to a ballooning investigation in Europe and the Americas into drug-facilitated sexual assaults by misogynist online communities.
Chinese community rallies to support the victims
Under German privacy laws, prosecutors are limited in what they can say outside the courtroom, documents are restricted and, in the ongoing case in Berlin, members of the public have been forced to leave the courtroom during parts of the trial.
This may be why the investigation into the Telegram group has garnered less attention in Germany than might be expected. But members of the country’s Chinese community, mostly women, have been attending court proceedings to show support for the victims even if they don’t know them.
鈥淲hat makes one really angry is to see that such groups hate women, they have no respect,鈥� said Fu Xiao, who traveled roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) to Berlin last week to attend the trial. 鈥淲omen aren鈥檛 seen as people.鈥�
In China, state media has covered the cases comprehensively, but wider discussion about the prosecutions on Chinese-language social media like Rednote has been . Certain tags have been more likely to get a post deleted or banned on Rednote, screenshots and searches show. But posts using less direct language have , including ones that refer to 鈥渄ate rape鈥� or the euphemistic 鈥渟tudents studying abroad in Germany.鈥�
China鈥檚 Ministry of Public Security and Rednote didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Cases echo a landmark French trial
The German cases have drawn comparisons to the attacks on , a French woman who, over the course of nearly a decade, by her then-husband and strangers he invited to their home. The trial 鈥� and Pelicot鈥檚 decision to waive her anonymity 鈥� prompted a reckoning over rape culture in France and beyond.
鈥淧elicot is not an isolated case,鈥� Judge Markus Koppenleitner said during a hearing in Munich for one of the Chinese men convicted in the German investigation. 鈥淭his is not a Chinese or French phenomenon, but one that also exists in Germany and, ultimately, worldwide.鈥�
Similar cases to the 鈥淕erman driving school” investigation have been popping up around the globe. Although authorities haven’t publicly linked them to the German prosecutions, some investigators have cited tips from German authorities and journalists as crucial to their progress.
In Los Angeles, German investigators last year reached out to police about a potential suspect in drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The defendant, a graduate student from China, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women in LA after he allegedly procured the drugs from a Chinese national in Germany.
last month, police arrested four men suspected of drugging and sexually abusing women after hearing from authorities in Germany and the U.K. Dutch police said the alleged perpetrators used social media chat groups to disseminate videos showing the abuse and discuss how to drug victims.
And Europol, the European Union鈥檚 police agency, last week announced 鈥淧roject Medusa,鈥� an international operation designed to dismantle online networks that promote drug-facilitated sexual assaults. Law enforcement from Germany and the U.K. are leading the operation, which has already netted 57 arrests.
Cases raise questions about Telegram
The German predator network managed to thrive despite clear violations of Telegram鈥檚 terms of service, again raising questions about how the platform has been used for .
In 2024, the app鈥檚 founder over allegations that the platform was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. He denied wrongdoing, blaming surging numbers of Telegram users that he said 鈥渃aused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.鈥� The investigation is ongoing.
鈥淪exual violence is explicitly forbidden by Telegram鈥檚 terms of service and such content is routinely removed,鈥� the company said in a statement. 鈥淭elegram fulfils all of its legal obligations in relation to such harmful content, including everything set out by” the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
The company didn’t respond to questions about the German cases, including how photos, videos and comments about sexual crimes were posted for years in the app, whether Telegram was aware of the activity and what, if anything, it did to alert the authorities.
Some of the German Telegram chats date back to at least 2020, court documents show. Attorney Magdalena Gebhard, who represented a victim in a previous Berlin trial that led to a conviction, said there was an inner circle of eight perpetrators but that some of the chat groups had up to 50,000 members.
Police only became aware of the network in 2024 after a man in Frankfurt, referred to by German courts as Dapeng Z., changed his tactics from drugging and sexually abusing female acquaintances to targeting strangers he met online, according to prosecutors.
German police arrested Dapeng Z., whom German and Chinese media have reported is the group’s ringleader, in 2024 in cooperation with Chinese law enforcement, according to the Chinese consulate in Frankfurt and the Beijing 91欧美激情, a state-run media outlet.
He was sentenced in February to 14 years in prison for aggravated rape, attempted murder and other offenses, though he has appealed. His attorneys didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Although authorities haven鈥檛 publicly said how many women were victimized by the 鈥渄riving school鈥� network, they have said their investigation is ongoing, meaning there could be further arrests and additional victims. Gebhard鈥檚 client, for example, only learned she had been sexually assaulted after investigators discovered video footage.
Another verdict is expected
On Wednesday, defendant Zhiting S. is set to receive his verdict and potential sentence in Berlin. He is believed to be part of the group鈥檚 inner circle, German and Chinese state media reported. He was charged with sexual assault, possessing child sexual abuse images, and other counts.
Prosecutors say he provided instructions, using previous medical training, to a Telegram group about which drugs could be used to sedate women before sexually assaulting them. They say at least one person followed his advice before an attack in Frankfurt.
Zhiting S., whose attorney didn’t respond to questions from the AP, was also accused by German authorities of repeatedly sexually abusing a woman in China and sharing images of the assault online. Defendants aren’t required to formally enter pleas in Germany.
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Wu reported from Bangkok. Associated Press reporters Geir Moulson and Fanny Brodersen in Berlin; Molly Quell and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles; and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
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