A convicted German paedophile snatched a 10-year-old girl outside her school and sexually abused her shortly after police ordered parents to remove warnings he was hanging around the area

Arthur Krahl, 61, has five convictions for child abuse and possessing child pornography

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A convicted paedophile snatched a ten-year-old girl outside her school and sexually abused her shortly after German police ordered parents to take down warnings he was hanging around the area.

Arthur Krahl, 61, bundled the girl into his Audi A4 just metres from her school gates in Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatinate State, Germany. He already has five convictions for child abuse.

Horrified witnesses called police who tracked down Krahl parked in a remote country road on September 11.

But when they moved in to arrest him he set off on a high speed chase down the A65 motorway with the child on the back seat.

They finally stopped and arrested him when he turned off the autobahn and then freed his sobbing victim.

Krahl had previously been jailed for sexually abusing five children and possessing child pornography. 

Local media revealed that neighbours had warned police and parents of his predatory behaviour many times after his release from prison.

Several parents shared pictures of him on social media after he was seen lurking around schools, kindergartens and playgrounds.

But police and local state officials ordered them to remove the images and stop 'spreading rumours'.

One local, bus driver Sven Goedel, 44, said: 'This criminal pulled a 16-year-old into the car in Lambrecht a few weeks ago and still remained free.

'I can not comprehend that. This is a judicial scandal and we are all afraid of this man here.'

An ex-neighbour of Krahl's said: 'We always warned everyone about him, but the police kept letting him go.

'Even when he once told the judge at a hearing that his next victim could no longer identify him. He openly threatened murder!'

A local added: 'We always kept an eye on this guy to protect our children. Because no matter what he did, he always came out. We felt defenseless against him.'

Local mayor Ludwig Lintz, thanked the sharp-eyed parents after Krahl was caught.

He said: 'The city of Edenkoben thinks what happened is very bad.

'The state must do everything in its power to prevent this from happening in the future. Legal regulations that restrict preventative measures should be reviewed.

'The protection of the child is a top priority.

'Fortunately, there are courageous people who pay attention to their surroundings and thus prevented something worse from happening.'

It comes a week after the country was rocked when a married father of two was accused of breaking into a German care home and raping a 10-year-old girl, who was later killed.

Daniel Troger, 25, allegedly raped young Lena before going on to watch pornography with an 11-year-old boy, who later allegedly strangled the girl to death.

The boy cannot be identified for legal reasons.