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Courthouse in Essen (2019)
Photo: Bernd Thissen/ dpa
The "lateral thinker" couple, who abducted their underage children to Paraguay without the consent of the other parents, does not have to go to prison.
The sentence – ten months imprisonment on probation for joint child abduction – was suspended for three years on probation, the Essen district court announced.
The two had agreed to a corresponding conviction by way of a criminal order, it is said.
In addition, they would have to pay 2,520 euros each as a condition of probation, said a court spokesman.
The criminal proceedings in the sensational case have thus been concluded.
Anna and Andreas E. had already left Germany in November 2021 with the children from their previous relationships without informing the other parent.
In a farewell letter, they indicated that they wanted to escape the corona measures in Germany, but did not name a goal.
The other parents then started a search operation and after about six months contacted the media in Paraguay.
The child abduction ended in June after difficult negotiations and about seven months.
The emigrant couple first turned themselves in to the authorities in Paraguay because of the high pressure of the search and returned – like the girls before them – to Germany.
bbr/dpa