A former World Cup and Real Madrid soccer player has been found guilty of sharing child pornography
- Ex-international soccer player Christoph Metzelder found guilty of distributing child pornography.
- He was handed a 10-month suspended prison at a court in Dusseldorf, Germany on Thursday.
- Metzelder played in a World Cup final with Germany and for clubs including Real Madrid.
Former Real Madrid and Germany footballer Christoph Metzelder has been handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of sharing child pornography.
The 40-year-old ex-defender admitted to the possession and distribution of exploitative images of children during an appearance at Dusseldorf District Court on Thursday, German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
Metzelder admitted to sharing images showing child sexual exploitation with three women over Whatsapp.
According to Deutsche Welle, a woman in the city of Hamburg contacted police in September 2019 after allegedly receiving such images from Metzelder.
Metzelder, who is father to an 11-year-old daughter, insisted that he was not involved in any physical "attacks on children and youths" but acknowledged the damage his actions have caused to those involved.
"I took screenshots of incriminating images on freely accessible websites and talked about extreme fantasies in chats," he said after being found guilty of the charges against him, Deutsche Welle reported.
"It all took place in a parallel digital world," he added.
"I sent these pictures even though I know what unspeakable suffering towards kids in each of these files there is. I leave a wound that will never heal.
"I accept the punishment and I ask for forgiveness from the victims of sexual violence. I will have to live with this guilt as part of society for the rest of my life," he added.
Astrid Stammerjohann, the judge in the case said that Metzelder had expressed "genuine remorse" for sharing the images, according to German broadcaster RTL.
"The special public interest is the downside of his celebrity. He should not be able to pursue his professional activities or take part in public life for the foreseeable future. For me, he has also shown genuine remorse"
Metzelder, who won the La Liga title with Real Madrid in 2008, also played for Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund during his domestic playing career, while he was a World Cup runner-up in 2002 and won 47 caps for his country.
He retired from professional football in 2014, and had been working for Sky Sports Germany as a pundit until 2019, when it was announced that he was being investigated by police.