Martin Ney

Martin Ney (born 12 December 1970) is a convicted German serial killer and sex offender.

From 1992-2004, he murdered three and sexually assaulted at least 40 children.

Known as the "Masked Man" and the "Black Man", he wore a mask while committing the crimes.

He carried out the offences in camps, private homes and other places.

In 1992, a number of acts of sexual assaults were carried out against boys, mainly in northern Germany.

The attacker, Ney, always attacked at night, and was described as tall, strong and wearing a mask.

The attacks were carried out in school homes, camps and youth homes.

On 3 March 1992, a student discovered a masked man in an empty dormitory of a children's home in Hepstedt.

The man fled shortly thereafter through a patio door.

A few days later, the man tried to sexually abuse an 11-year-old boy, but fled when he began to scream.

Between April and June 1992, the masked man was seen twice by students before one night in August, when he woke up several children and touched them inappropriately.

In September, the stranger approached a boy's bed and asked him to undress.

On an October night, the masked man spoke to five children in a row, of which he then sexually abused three.

After these incidents, a motion detector was installed in the school camp and the door locking system was renewed.

In March 1992, a series of similar incidents began in Schullandheim Badenstadt in Zeven, when a stranger tried to sexually abuse a 13-year-old at night.

In August of the same year, the probably-same perpetrator snuck into a toilet with a ten-year-old boy.

In September 1992, he touched a nine-year-old inappropriately, after he had carried him from his bed into an adjoining room.

In March 1992, a teacher in the hallway of the Schullandheim Cluvenhagen saw a man carrying a drowsy boy who did not resist.

When the offender noticed the teacher, he fled.

In the early morning of 31 March 1992, 13-year-old Stefan Jahr disappeared from a boarding school in Scheeßel.

This crime spree began in August 1992, when a masked offender sexually abused a nine-year-old and another child in a camp near Selker Noor.

From 1994, Ney began breaking into single-family homes.

Ney murdered three boys in northern Germany and 45 attempted or completed sexual abuse offences.

In the case of two murders in western France and the Netherlands, he is considered a suspect.

In May 1994, the alleged serial offender abused an 11-year-old and almost exactly a year later, he repeated the crime on a ten-year-old boy.

In July 1994, the perpetrator entered two tents, one after another, in a camp in Otterndorf and awoke seven boys aged between eight and nine, which he touched inappropriately.

At the end of August 1994, a 13-year-old boy woke up in the Selker Noor camp when the offender began touching him.

After about ten minutes, the masked man disappeared.

In October 1995, he tried to touch a 13-year-old, but fled when he sat down close to his classmates.

In June 1995, the perpetrator abused a ten-year-old exchange student in Wulsbüttel and fled through a room window.

In June 1998, he struck in Badenstadt for the last time, when he tried to touch two boys, who resisted his advances.

In July 1999, the man awoke an eight-year-old boy, took him to the house's basement and sexually abused him.

On 5 September 2001, nine-year-old Dennis Klein disappeared from his room at night.

A mushroom picker, found the murdered boy 14 days later in dense shrubbery on a forest road between Kirchtimke and Hepstedt.

Five weeks later, his body was found buried, in the Verden dunes, with his hands tied behind his back On 7 April 2004, 11-year-old Jonathan Coulom disappeared from a school home in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins in western France.

In May, his undressed, handcuffed body weighted with a concrete block was found in a pond about 30 km away.

Ney is said to have been close to the scene of the crime in May 2004.

After his arrest on 15 April 2011, the 40-year-old educator confessed to three murders however is suspected of two other murders.

On 27 February 2012, Ney was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Stade district court for three murders and 20 cases sexual assaults.

The court noted the particular severity of the guilt.