Quote:who allegedly raped more than 30 children at least 1,000 times at rundown campsite

Andreas V. and Mario S are accused of raping dozens of children in Germany
Some 30 children allegedly sexually assaulted and raped more than 1,000 times
The 56-year-old and 33-year-old also allegedly filmed their depraved crimes
Police admit they have lost 155 DVDs of sexual abuse - and did not make backups

German police have admitted to losing almost all the incriminating digital evidence against two paedophiles accused of sexually assaulting least 31 children as young as four, allegedly raping their victims more than 1,000 times.

Main suspect Andreas V., 56, and his campsite neighbour Mario S., 33, allegedly sexually assaulted dozens of children at a rundown caravan park in Luegde, a town in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The case has shocked Germany, but despite the extremely serious allegations, police are now saying that almost all the incriminating digital evidence has gone missing - and that they apparently forgot to make backups.

The discovery of the massive abuse case has shocked Germany and left the public, as well as prosecutors, wondering how it could have dragged on for so many years without the authorities doing anything to stop it.

To the further shock of Germans, the authorities have now announced that a suitcase containing 155 critical pieces of evidence which have not yet been reviewed has gone missing.

The suitcase reportedly contained 155 CDs and DVDs from Andreas V.'s trailer which have gone missing from the police station in the Lippe district.

Only three of the 155 data carriers with a total of 0.7 terabyte of data on it have so far been reviewed.

Interior Minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia Herbert Reul said that 'also in the analysis it came to serious technical errors' as cops forgot to make copies of all the data carriers which is a normal procedure if such evidence is received.

To investigate the loss, Mr Reul has ordered a special unit of four officers to look into the missing evidence.

He said: 'All this leaves me stunned. It's a disaster. It's a failure of the police. Such mistakes must never happen. To the victims and their families I can only say that I am so sorry. I again apologise for it.'

The disappearance of the data was only noticed on 30th January and the discs were last seen on 20th December.

According to Mr Reul, who was only informed about the missing data last Monday, the room in which the evidence was stored was not as secure as it should have been.

Mr Reul said that he 'does not exclude anything' when asked if the evidence might have been stolen on purpose or if it has simply been lost.

According to police sources, the number of young victims identified in the case now stands at 31 - 27 girls and four boys aged between four and 13 years old - and the number of suspected rapes runs well over 1,000.

The rapes were allegedly filmed by the perpetrators and broadcast over the darknet.

According to the public prosecutor's office, Mario S. is seen abusing children in some of the horrific videos he created with Andreas V.

Andreas V. is suspected of not only raping his foster daughter, but also using her as bait to lure other children to his run-down holiday home.

Just like the 56-year-old suspect, Mario S. was jobless and still lived at home with his parents.

According to investigators, Mario S. allegedly raped dozens of children and filmed the despicable scenes, uploading them to the darknet when he had finished.