Berlin (CNN) — A German mother and her partner have been sentenced to prison for selling the woman's son, now ten years old, to pedophiles on the internet in a case that has horrified the nation.
The couple were accused of repeatedly raping and abusing the boy from May 2015, and selling him online to other men for sex since 2016, a court in southern Germany said in a statement Tuesday.
The abuse was filmed, and police were alerted to the case and arrested the pair in 2017.
The 48-year-old woman was sentenced Tuesday by Freiburg state court to 12-and-a-half years prison, and her 39-year-old partner sentenced to 12 years. The court ruled that after serving his sentence, the man must also remain in preventive custody.
Several men, believed to be pedophile "clients" of the couple, have also been prosecuted in connection with the case. A Spanish man was also convicted.
The couple also sexually abused a three-year-old girl in 2015. The girl, who had mental health issues, had on several occasions been given to the 48-year-old woman by her mother to care for her.
The couple have been ordered to pay the boy 30,000 euros ($35,000) in compensation, and 12,500 euros ($14,500) to the girl.
