German couple convicted over rape, online sale of young son

BERLIN - A German mother and her partner have been convicted over the repeated rape of the woman's young son and for selling him for sex on the internet. They were sentenced to prison in a case that has horrified the country.

News agency dpa reported that the Freiburg state court sentenced the woman on Tuesday to 12½ years in prison and her partner to 12 years. It ruled that the man must remain in preventive custody after serving his sentence.

The two were accused of repeatedly abusing and raping the boy, now 10, and selling him to other men online for more than two years. The abuse was filmed.

The pair and six others were arrested last fall. Several other men have already been convicted in separate trials.

AP