BERLIN (AP) – A Bavarian court on Friday found a folk singer guilty of violating strict German child labor laws for having his 4-year-old son perform on stage with him at an evening concert.
Angelo Kelly, 39, was fined 3,000 euros ($ 3,600) by the Hassfurt Administrative Court for performing at an outdoor summer concert in 2019 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 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 work by the Youth Labor Protection Act.”
Kelly, who is popular in Germany, said on his Facebook page that he would appeal the verdict.
“As a father, the well-being of my children is most important to me,” he wrote. “William was and is never obliged to appear with us on our shows. If he did it, it was because he wanted to. “
Children ages 3 to 6 can participate in musical performances for a maximum of two hours per day according to German law, but only with official approval of an exception and only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., dpa reported. William, who is now 5, appeared on stage until 8:20 p.m., according to authorities.
Kelly’s attorney, Julian Ackermann, quashed the ruling, saying that interpreting a “brief appearance onstage in the presence of the mother and siblings at a concert given by their own father” as child labor was legally incorrect and “far removed of the facts”. . “