A German man has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of secretly drugging and raping his wife over several years and sharing videos of the abuse online.
The man, identified only as Fernando P., 61, was convicted by a regional court in Aachen for crimes committed between 2018 and 2024, following an investigation that uncovered a pattern of abuse spanning up to 15 years.
According to the court, Fernando P. repeatedly sedated his wife without her knowledge and s3xually ass@ulted her in their marital home. He also filmed the assaults and distributed the recordings to other users through group chats and internet platforms.
In its ruling, the court said he violated “the most intimate sphere of private life and of personal rights through image recordings in 34 cases, including in four cases in concurrence with aggravated rape and dangerous bodily harm.”
He was also convicted of aggravated s3xual coercion and s3xual ass@ult. The court added that the defendant “repeatedly secretly sedated and sexually abused his wife in the marital home” and “filmed the acts and made the recordings available to other users in group chats and on internet platforms
Fernando P. was acquitted on some additional charges, though the court did not disclose details of those counts. He has one week to appeal the judgement.
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Dominique Pelicot in France, whose wife, Gisele Pelicot, revealed last year that she had been drugged and r@ped by her husband and dozens of other men over a decade while unconscious. Fifty-one men were later convicted in that case.
Speaking outside the court in Avignon after the Pelicot verdicts, Gisele Pelicot said: “I am thinking of all the other families affected by this tragedy and all the unrecognised victims. We share the same fight.”
Fernando P.’s conviction adds to growing concern across Europe over hidden domestic s3xual abuse and the use of drugs and digital platforms to facilitate and conceal such crimes.
