German couple jailed for selling young son to paedophiles for sex on darknet

FREIBURG - A woman and her partner in southern Germany were on Tuesday (Aug 7) sentenced to jail for selling her young son to paedophiles on the darknet.

The Freiburg court jailed Berrin Taha for 12 years and six months, while her partner, Christian Lais, who was the boy's stepfather, received 12 years, the BBC reported.

Taha and Lais, both German nationals, were accused of rape, aggravated sexual assault of children, forced prostitution and distribution of child pornography.

They were accused of having sexually assaulted the boy - who was nine when their trial began in June - as well as pimping him on the darknet for more than two years.

The darknet refers to encrypted peer-to-peer networks which offer a great degree of anonymity to users and is not reached by search engines.

The stepfather has a previous conviction for paedophilia, the AFP reported.

The case which horrified Germany came to light following an anonymous tip last September, and led to the arrest of eight people who were charged with belonging to an online paedophile ring.

During the trial of the related cases, the stepfather admitted on the witness stand to the assaults on the boy. He also made serious accusations against the child's mother. The boy is in state care.

A Spanish man was on Monday (Aug 6) sentenced by the court to 10 years behind bars for repeatedly sexually abusing the young boy.

Javier Gonzalez Diaz was convicted of "14 counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of rape and one count of bodily harm while making child pornography", judge Stefan Buergelin said.

The 33-year-old was also ordered to pay €18,000 (S$28,464) to the young victim.

Prosecutors had demanded a 12-year prison sentence.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.