BERLIN (AP) – A Bavarian court on Friday found a folk singer guilty of violating strict German child labor laws for his 4-year-old son performing on stage with him during a nightly concert.
Angelo Kelly, 39, was fined 3,000 euros ($ 3,600) by the Hassfurt administrative court for appearing in 2019 at an outdoor summer concert with his son William, who sang “What a World wonderful. ” The boy is the youngest of Kelly’s five children.
“During this performance, child William was on stage for at least 30 minutes where he played, sang and performed his own song,” the court said, according to the dpa news agency. “This is considered a work of the Youth Labor Protection Act.”
Kelly, who is popular in Germany, said on her Facebook page that she would appeal the verdict.
“As a parent, the well-being of my children is the most important thing to me,” she wrote. “William was and is never obliged to appear with us in our shows. If he did, it was because he wanted to. “
Children from 3 to 6 years old can participate in musical performances according to German law up to two hours a day, but only with the official approval of an exception and only between 8 am and 5 pm, according to informed Dpa. William, who is now 5 years old, appeared on stage until 8:20 p.m., according to authorities.
Kelly’s lawyer, Julian Ackermann, criticized the sentence and said that performing a “brief appearance on stage in the presence of the mother and siblings at a concert given by the father himself” as child labor was legally erroneous and “far removed from the facts.”