Court rejects state paying brothel bills

5 March 2004

NUREMBERG – An unemployed German car mechanic who complained of sexual withdrawal symptoms after his Thai wife returned home has failed to get the state to pay for his visits to brothels.

A court ruled Friday the 35-year-old man should not be reimbursed for the visits which he had claimed were necessary to meet “heightened sexual needs”.

The daily Bild newspaper quoted the man, named as Helmut H., as saying social security authorities had initially turned down his request for an inflatable rubber doll sexual aid.

He then sent authorities a bill for 16 visits to brothels costing EUR 100 a time, as well as bills for 32 pornographic films, a contact magazine and travel expenses – totalling just over EUR 2,465.

Helmut H. said he could not afford to pay for his Thai wife and their son to return to Germany from Thailand, and as a result he was suffering from sexual withdrawal symptoms.

To keep his marriage intact, he had decided to visit brothels rather than seek a lover.

“I would never cheat on my wife. In a brothel I am merely satisfying my lust,” he said.

If social security authorities would not pay for his wife’s return flight they should at least cover the costs of four brothel visits a month, he argued.

Rejecting the claim, the court in Ansbach said costs covering a person’s “sexual needs” were already met by the man’s monthly welfare money which included “cost of living” payments.

DPA
Subject: German news