A 61-YEAR-old caretaker has gone on trial in Germany after being accused of drugging, raping and secretly filming his wife for 15 years.
The case already being likened to the horrific Gisèle Pelicot abuse scandal in France.
Prosecutors say the defendant, named as Fernando S., allegedly sedated his wife with medication from 2009 to spring 2024, sexually assaulted her, and recorded the attacks.
He is also accused of sharing the videos in online chat groups and on internet platforms with other men.
Investigators reportedly uncovered extensive footage documenting the assaults, along with other covert recordings of his wife in states of undress.
According to local media, he allegedly used platforms such as Telegram, where thousands of users traded intimate images and, in some cases, offered their partners to others for abuse.
The allegations have drawn immediate parallels to the Gisèle Pelicot case.
The high-profile French trial saw Pelicot’s husband, Dominique, drug her for nearly a decade and invite dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious.
Brave Gisèle, who waived her anonymity, became a symbol of resistance after revealing she had no memory of the assaults and had been abused by at least 72 men.
That landmark trial exposed a sprawling network of men recruited online, a vast archive of videos and photos documenting hundreds of assaults.
It also revealed a sick grooming pattern in which Pelicot’s husband mixed powerful sedatives into her food and drink.
That case, which concluded with sweeping convictions in December 2024, set a stark legal and cultural benchmark in France.
In Aachen, Fernando S. faces six counts of rape, three counts of sexual coercion, and one count of dangerous bodily harm.
He also faces a further 30 counts of violating his wife’s “highly personal sphere through image recordings.”
Fernando S. has been in custody since his arrest in February and had worked as a caretaker at a school in Alsdorf, Western Germany.
On the first day of the trial, he reportedly limped into court with a hood pulled low to hide his face.
The public was then removed from the courtroom to protect the victim’s privacy.
According to local reports, the defendant has confessed to most of the acts behind closed doors.
Proceedings are expected to continue over several sessions, with a verdict anticipated in mid-December.
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It comes after another woman has revealed she was raped more than a thousand times by her evil partner while she was unconscious.
In a heart-breaking interview, Amanda Stanhope said the abuse left her so confused she believed she could have Alzheimer’s.