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Mother of the abuse victim in August 2021 in the district court of Münster
Photo: Guido Kirchner / dpa
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has lifted the sentence in the judgment against the mother of a boy in Münster who was repeatedly raped.
In October 2021, the Münster regional court had sentenced the woman, who had sole custody, to seven years and nine months in prison for aiding and abetting by omission.
According to the Münster court, the woman knew that her partner had repeatedly and severely sexually abused the boy, who was twelve at the time of the verdict.
But she didn't do anything about it.
The boy was severely traumatized.
The BGH did not contradict the judgment itself, but demanded a lower penalty.
The Federal Supreme Court ruled in a decision from April that was published this Monday (4 StR 34/22) that the single mother's special position of trust had been taken into account as an aggravating sentence.
The verdict will be overturned and referred back to another chamber of the Münster Regional Court for a new determination of the sentence.
The partner of the convict is considered the mastermind in the abuse complex, which revolves around the rape of children in a gazebo in Münster and other places in Germany.
The IT technician was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to 14 years in prison and subsequent preventive detention in July 2021.
The mother made a partial confession during her trial.
But she was unable to end the relationship, she said.
kha/dpa