BERLIN (AP) – A Bavarian court has found a folk singer guilty of violating Germany’s strict child labor laws for performing with his 4-year-old son on stage during an evening concert.
Angelo Kelly, 39, was fined 3,000 euros ($ 3,600) by the Hassfurt administrative court for appearing in 2019 during an outdoor summer concert with his son William, who sang “What a Wonderful World.” The boy is the youngest of Kelly’s five children.
“During this performance, the child William stood on the stage for at least 30 minutes where he played along, sang along and performed his own song,” the court told the dpa news agency. “It is considered work by the Youth Labor Protection Act.”
Kelly, who is popular in Germany, said on his Facebook page that he would appeal the ruling.
“As a father, the well-being of my children is most important to me,” he wrote. ‘William was and never was obliged to appear at our shows with us. If he did, it was because he wanted to. ”
According to German law, children from 3 to 6 years can participate in musical performances for up to two hours a day, but only with the official approval of an exception and only between 08:00 and 17:00, dpa reported. According to authorities, William, who is now 5, appeared on stage.
Kelly’s lawyer, Julian Ackermann, exploded the ruling, saying that the interpretation of a ‘brief appearance on stage in the presence of a mother and siblings during a concert by one’s own father’ as child labor was legally wrong and ‘far removed from the facts’. . ”