False abuse allegations: couple imprisoned 684 days without guilt
A 32-year-old woman from Salzgitter retracted her statements before Braunschweig District Court, allegations that had wrongly imprisoned a couple for nearly two years.
Confession in court: woman admits to fabricating abuse allegations against mother and stepfather
A 32-year-old woman from Salzgitter has admitted before Braunschweig District Court to having fabricated abuse allegations that unjustly imprisoned a couple for 684 days. According to WELT, the defendant stated through her lawyer that the serious sexual assaults she had described never took place. "What I said about them was false," she said directly to the two wrongly convicted individuals who were seated in the courtroom as plaintiffs.
The case became known nationwide as the abuse complex surrounding Josephine R. Initially, the defendant herself had been convicted of making a false confession to alleged abuse and violence committed against her ex-girlfriend Josephine R., and was sentenced to six years and five months imprisonment. She justified this by stating that she had been emotionally dependent at the time. "She was my centre. I was afraid of being abandoned and wanted to do everything to help her," she told the lay judges' court. After four years in prison, she was released.
Following the conclusion of this first trial, serious abuse allegations made by Josephine R. against her own mother and her partner came into focus. In the subsequent trial, the mother was sentenced to a total of 13.5 years imprisonment with subsequent preventive detention; the stepfather received nine years and six months.
Nearly a year after this second verdict, the Federal Court of Justice quashed the conviction. Serious doubts about the credibility of the witnesses became publicly evident. Both parents have since been definitively acquitted. The 32-year-old admitted in court on Monday that she had known her statements could have existential consequences for other people.
Source: WELT