Leif “Sunny” Rothe Sentenced to Life Prison for Child Abuse

Former Dumaguete Expat Leif Rothe (53) has been sentenced to 10 years life behind bars with preventive detention after his time in jail for child abuse In Dumaguete, Cebu and other locations in the Philippines. The court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany did not only find Mr. Rothe guilty of a minimum of 45 crimes but also followed the recommendation of a psychiatric expert because of the dangerousness of the man. The verdict, therefore, exceeds the 8 years imprisonment, which was asked by the prosecutor.

Former Dumaguete Expat leads now “Sunny” Life in Jail

Leif Rothe from Frankfurt, Germany, moved to Dumaguete in 2009. It did not take too long that his Facebook Page, which he was running under the name “Sunny Delgado” was filled with pictures, where he surrounded himself with young and obvious underaged girls. He rented several apartments in Dumaguete City until 2017, when he moved to Cebu City. He founded with the money of other people a non-profit organization and claimed to help poor children.

In January 2018 he flew back to Germany to take care of business and got arrested for organizing and preparing of sexual abuse of children. The arrest came after the Prosecutor General’s office received information from US authorities. Investigators were on his trail since a while and we’re sure it was now the right moment to move forward. The arrest took place on January 16, 2018. His file storage devices showed more than 1900 pornographic video files and images in the most serious form of sexual abuse of children.

One year later the case was ready to move to court. The Attorney General asked for 8 years of sentences in prison. He made a confession in court with the hope to lower the sentence. However, a psychiatric expert testified about the dangerousness of Mr. Rothe and recommended preventive detention after his sentence. Because the court and the prosecutor only had videos and image files, it was not possible to determine exactly how many victims were under 14 years old.

10 years of imprisonment and preventive detention afterward

The judge, who presided several months over the case took not only the advice of the expert but also raised the Attorney General request by two years. Additionally, the court followed the recommendation and added preventive detention after the 10 years of prison time for Mr. Rothe.

The preventive detention (germ: Sicherungsverwahrung) is usually imposed in the original verdict. People suffering from serious mental illness may be subject to involuntary commitment under mental health legislation. This is undertaken on health grounds or in order to protect the person or others. It may be also given to offenders aged 18 or above, who are convicted of a qualifying sexual or violent offense, and the court is convinced that the person is likely to commit another qualifying sexual or violent offense if they were given a determinate sentence of imprisonment.

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