Christiane Burkheiser

The story seems like America's answer to the infamous Josef Fritzl case, in which an Austrian man imprisoned his daughter and fathered six children by her. America's answer to the Fritzl story is even more bizarre. Aswad Ayinde, 51, is accused of raping five of his daughters repeatedly over a five year period and impregnating three of them. A total of six children survived this series of crimes, which spanned a period of about 20 years and ended in 2002. The judge in the case has recently...Read Full Story

Josef Fritzl's psychological abnormalities should be regarded as extenuating circumstances in any sentence handed down at his trial in Austria, his lawyer said on Thursday."Extenuating circumstances must be taken into consideration," Rudolf Mayer told jurors in his closing statement on the final day of the trial."Regarding the charge of murder, I don't believe it was," Mayer said. "My client was responsible for his actions, but his personality has psychological abnormalities. He didn't choose...Read Full Story

The eight jurors in the trial of Josef Fritzl withdrew Thursday to decide whether the 73-year-old was guilty as charged of murder, incest, rape, sequestration, grievous assault and enslavement.Earlier, the prosecution called for a "maximum" sentence -- which is life in the case of murder -- for the 73-year-old, who has confessed to all charges.His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, argued that the defendant "didn't choose to the way he is" and that Fritzl's inbuilt psychological abnormalities should be...Read Full Story

A man who allegedly kept his daughter locked up for 25 years and raped her repeatedly together with his son has been arrested by Italian police.The apartment where the family livedThe case has sent shock waves across the country and has already been dubbed Italy's version of the Josef Fritzl case.Prosecutors said the 64-year-old also ''groomed'' his son to abuse his sister and to subject his own young children to horrific sex acts.He has been named in the Italian media as Michele Mongelli and...Read Full Story

Am I the only person in the entire world to have noticed something very wrong about the Fritzl case, other than the detail of the charges for which the defendant was found guilty earlier today?The press has started to dissect the case and analyse it - which is important, and not all of the discussion misses the point. This is a good Times piece which looks at the issues concerning Fritzl's ability to evade the law over the course of several decades, during which he was obviously on the...Read Full Story

by Sim Sim Wissgott SANKT POELTEN, Austria (AFP) -- An Austrian court started deliberations on Thursday to decide whether Josef Fritzl should spend the rest of his life behind bars for treating his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years.Fritzl, 73, stunned the court Wednesday by pleading guilty to murder and enslavement, saying he had been shamed into reversing his pleas by the testimony of his daughter Elisabeth.He had already admitted rape, incest and sequestration for fathering Elisabeth's...Read Full Story

In a horrific incident reminiscent of the infamous Josef Fritzl case, a father in Mumbai has been sexually abusing and exploiting his daughters for the last 10 years. Mumbai Police arrested the 60-year-old businessman on charges of allegedly raping his two daughters. The mother of the two girls has also been arrested for abetment. The elder daughter, now 21, was allegedly raped for 10 years. The businessman started raping his second daughter - a 15-year-old - just a few months ago. The...Read Full Story

UPDATE - Fritzl to die behind bars - see what The Austrian Times says - click here The BBC reports: The jury in the trial of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children, has retired to consider its verdict. Fritzl, 73, has admitted all the charges against him - including rape, incest, murder and enslavement. Summing up, Christiane Burkheiser said the jury had to concentrate on the two most serious charges against him - murder and enslavement. The...Read Full Story

Poland is to become the first country in the European Union to force convicted paedophiles to undergo chemical castration.Judges will get the power to order the procedure under a law being rushed through the country's parliament next month in the wake of an incest case that has horrified the nation.The 45-year-old man accused in that case has been dubbed the Polish Josef Fritzl - after the Austrian who locked up his daughter for 20 years and fathered a family with her.The legislation will...Read Full Story

Under the cloud of a media frenzy that required a no-fly zone, Josef Fritzl pleaded guilty today in an Austrian courthouse to rape and incest charges linked to the 24-year imprisonment of his daughter, the BBC reports. But the 74-year-old, who entered court with his face covered, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, enslavement, and assault—he has maintained that he locked up Elizabeth, then 18, to protect her from herself, and was to respond to her taped testimony detailing her...Read Full Story