A German court has sentenced a 61-year-old man to eight years and six months in prison for repeatedly drugging, raping, and filming his unconscious wife over several years. The school janitor, identified as Fernando P., committed the abuses within the couple’s home and shared the recordings online without his wife’s knowledge. The Aachen regional court delivered the verdict on Friday, noting an appeal may be filed within one week.
The case has drawn direct comparisons to the high-profile trial of Frenchman Dominique Pelicot, whose verdict occurred exactly one year prior. Pelicot was found guilty of aggravated rape for soliciting strangers to abuse his then-wife over a decade. In that French trial, forty-nine other men were also convicted of rape or sexual assault.
The court found Fernando P. guilty on all charges following a trial that exposed years of covert sexual violence. “This is a breaking story and will be updated,” the original report stated. The sentencing closes a severe case of marital betrayal and criminal exploitation.