Prominent German director Dieter Wedel indicted in rape case
One of Germany’s best-known television directors has been formally charged with raping an actress nearly 25 years ago in Munich, southeast Germany.
Munich prosecutors brought the indictment against Dieter Wedel before a criminal court on Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The 20-page indictment against the now-retired director claims that he raped an aspiring actress in 1996.
The actress, who was then 27, said she visited him in a hotel in Munich to read scenes for a potential role, but Wedel allegedly forced her onto the bed and sexually assaulted her.
Wedel, 81, is one of Germany’s most important TV directors.
According to his page on IMDB, he has won a number of European awards for both television writing and directing, including 1972′s “Once in a Lifetime”, 1993′s “The Great Bellheim” and 1996′s “Der Schattenmann.”
In 2018 Wedel resigned as artistic director of a theater festival in the central German city of Bad Hersfeld, after sexual allegations were brought against him.
His indictment was the result of a three-year investigation that was triggered by a 2018 article published in the German magazine Die Zeit.
Three other actresses also accused Wedel of assault, which took place between 1991 and 1996, according to the magazine — but the criminal investigation focused on Jany Tempel, the woman who visited the director in a hotel in 1996.
“He grabbed me violently and pushed me against the wall,” Tempel told the magazine. After asking the director to stop, she said that Wedel pushed her onto the bed and then raped her.
In 2018 the award-winning director became the first prominent name in Germany to be accused of sexual abuse in the wake of the #MeToo movement, according to The Associated Press.
Wedel has denied all accusations against him.
