31. 05. 11. - 09:00

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31. 05. 11. - 09:00

Weatherman freed in rape case

GERMANY'S most famous weatherman Joerg Kachelmann was today cleared of raping his girlfriend after a marathon nine month trial that gripped the Fatherland.

Swiss-born Kachelmann, 52, who became a global Internet phenomenon in January 2009 he when a cat joined him on set while he was presenting the weather, was accused of the crime back in March last year.

Prosecutors said he raped her in February 2010 after an argument.  He was arrested at Frankfurt Airport after returning from the Winter Olympics in Canada and spent six months in jail before he was released.

A multi-millionaire - he owns the weather forecasting service Metromedia AG as well as presenting on the ARD channel - he was told by judges at his trial in Mannheim that there was "insufficient evidence" for a conviction.

During the trial it became known that Kachelmann had a dozen girl friends he juggled skillfully so each one thought she was the only one.

Kachelmann insisted that he did not rape his 37-year-old girlfriend, a journalist identified only as Simone W., and that any injuries she may have received during their encounter was as a result of "playful" sex.  
He admitted to a colourful love life which included a penchant for S&M sex games and bondage.

The knife which he allegedly threatened his victim with was held by him to merely be a "prop" in the sex games they enjoyed together.

He could have faced four years in jail but was set free immediately from the court on Tuesday.  It is understood he intends to pick up the reins of the Metromedia company but his broadcasting career remains in the balance.

There was applause and whoops of joy from his supporters in the public gallery when he was cleared.  The trial and investigation has cost the German taxpayer somewhere in the region of five million pounds.

Although a country with a strong feminist movement, his alleged victim never enjoyed widespread support for her story while Kachelmann was always the main object of public sympathy on the pages of newspapers
and in radio and TV broadcasts about the affair.

German Herald

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