A gay couple who co-founded a Swiss LGBTQIA+ youth organization are being investigated by the public prosecutor after sexually exploiting two teenagers who were in their care. The men had created locations for their youth group, Sozialwerk.LGBT+, for children aged 13 and up in the city of Chur and in the municipality of Buchs, Switzerland.
While their identities were concealed by the press in Switzerland, Reduxx is naming the men involved as Holger Niggemann and his husband, Björn.
Holger, 42, is alleged to have had sexual contact with two 17-year-olds who had sought help for bullying with the organization. Holger was a board member of the group at the time, while his husband Björn was the business manager. The two men are said to have had a three-way sexual relationship with one of the teens, a 17-year old boy, according to a report by Tages-Anzeiger.
Numerous documents substantiate what happened in the group, including text messages, emails and voice messages, reports Tages-Anzeiger. Founded in 2020, Sozialwerk.LGBT has received public funding to set up facilities for at-risk youth as young as 13 who believe they are LGBT+.
During an investigation into the allegations, local media spoke to fifteen people close to the group to check the veracity of the allegations. The majority of those who came forward decided to remain anonymous.
One exception is Daniel Huber, a former board member of the association, who, with one other board member, reported the couple to public prosecutor Annina Grob, co-director of Avenir Social, the professional association for social work in Switzerland.
“For us, the behavior of the two is a total abuse of power, and the young people also felt that way. I brought it up again and again,” said Huber, who attended the meetings as a teenager before joining the board in a leadership role. “It is important not to look away from such behavior.”
According to statements from anonymous sources, the Niggemanns also took the 17 year-old boy on vacation to Germany with them.
In one public post the teen made on social media, he reveals struggling with the situation: “I’m in a toxic, polyamorous relationship and it’s tearing me apart,” he wrote. “[Holger] wanted us to be a polyamorous couple and I said OK, because I was willing to do anything just to be with him, even though I don’t even like his husband.”
The teen continued: “He’s just taking advantage of me, nothing more. And I’m already traumatized by this shit. When this is over, I need to get my brain fixed.”
The relationship caused controversy within the organization, several board members told Tages-Anzeiger. “It was clear to everyone that this relationship was not possible at all from a professional and moral point of view. But [Holger] in particular could speak extremely well,” said one individual.
Björn also had sexual contact with a second underage teenager in a counseling room at the club, which was confirmed by the outlet via a text message sent from Holger. As conversations surrounding their leadership became more heated, Holger temporarily submitted his resignation as manager six months ago. However, he sent long messages to other group members justifying the couple’s sexual activity.
“In public child and youth work, it was common for a long time for youth workers to have sexual contact with young people,” Holger stated. “Until the 1990s, foster children in Berlin were referred to pedophiles because only these children could love them.”
Holger’s latter remark refers to the infamous Kentler Project, an experiment authorized and subsidized by the Berlin Senate which placed foster children in the homes of pedophiles for the explicit purpose of facilitating child sexual abuse. The Kentler Project began in 1969, and at the time of its termination in 1988, nearly two decades later, sexologist Helmut Kentler described the project as a “complete success” in a report he submitted to the Senate.
Three days after submitting his resignation, Holger decided he wanted to reverse his decision. After an argument within the club’s board, neither he nor Björn were removed from the association. Shortly afterwards, Daniel Huber and another former board member reported the men to the St. Gallen police.
Several anonymous individuals who spoke with the press highlighted a “sexualized basic atmosphere” that existed at the establishment in Chur. Topics of conversation often focused on sexual activity, and a box full of sex toys was kept on-site. The box contained dildos, leather straps and bondage gear, including whips and anal plugs. Holger was said to have “actively offered this box to young people.”
A 2021 Facebook post by Holger Niggemann describes his preference for “puppy play,” a sexual fetish that involves pretending to be a dog during or near the time of intercourse, and the use of BDSM gear.
“A half-naked youth worker with a dog mask… something like that is disturbing and provocative. And that’s exactly why I chose this picture. The choice of image is about politics and not the politics of good taste,” Holger captioned the photo.
“Dogplay, or puppy play is very common in the queer scene. And yet it is often a taboo topic because it comes from the BDSM scene and is always equated with sex. [But] this is more about role models,” he continues.
“Animals have less value in our society. How we treat animal life, in slaughterhouses, factory farming and the like, is indicative of our attitude towards animals. Some of those opposed to marriage for all have taken this very stance, calling queers ‘pedophiles’ or comparing them to animals.”
“And what about nudity? In 2014 I was still working in the Zurich Oberland. This year, as I often do, I was in Ticino. And there in the swimming pool I met young people from my community. Just because I’m a youth worker, I can’t completely restrict my private life. Incidentally, I have already been hit on by community leaders in the public sauna.”
Holger Niggemann has also been the managing director of ‘queer youth’ center treff.LGBT, and has worked with children within the national education system.
In a description on the website “Queer Goes to School” (Queer Macht Schule), which promotes his educational resources, Holger says, “I have been supporting young people with questions about queer topics for over 20 years. I have also been involved in the national specialist groups for child and youth work in Switzerland on the topics of gender and queer for years. This gives us a broad base of experience and knowledge a professional and needs-based discussion of queer topics in the classroom!”
Prior to news of the accusations of the sexual abuse of minors, Holger’s group treff.LGBT had received some criticism on social media for instructing supporters to use the term “front hole” in reference to female anatomy. The post was made to the organization’s Instagram account on March 31 to promote the International Trangender Day of Visibility.
This is not the first time that an LGBT-focused youth group has been accused of facilitating the abuse of vulnerable teenagers.
As previously exclusively reported by Reduxx, two Scottish men came forward to allege they had been groomed and sexually exploited as minors while accessing services at LGBT Youth Scotland.
LGBT Youth Scotland, formerly the Stonewall Youth Project, is known as Scotland’s national charity for “LGBTI young people.” The organization works with youth aged 13 to 25, and delivers programs to schools, organizations and businesses. The charity was founded in 1989 and renamed in 2003, the same year a notorious pedophile, James Rennie, became the Chief Executive Officer.
In 2009, Rennie was found guilty and given “lifelong restriction” orders after it was discovered he was operating what was described as Scotland’s “largest pedophile network.”