Josef Fritzl kept his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.Image: GETTY IMAGES
Josef Fritzl might be placed in an assisted living facility.
According to local media, Josef Fritzl, the Austrian sex offender who fathered seven children with his daughter while keeping her locked in a dungeon for 24 years, may be released from a high-security jail.
The world was horrified in 2009 when Fritzl, now eighty-eight, was sentenced to life in prison.
According to a fresh psychiatric study, Fritzl, who suffers from dementia, is no longer considered a danger to the public, according to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF.
This implies that a judge could now determine whether to transfer him to a regular jail.
Fritzl is being detained at Stein Prison, in the town of Krems a der Donau, in a maximum security facility for mentally ill criminals.
According to Austrian legislation, a person serving a 15-year sentence to life in prison is entitled for conditional release; Fritzl is eligible for parole this year.
According to legal experts, Fritzl—who has now changed his name—may also be placed in a care facility under conditional release.
Alois Birklbauer, a criminal law professor at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, told ORF that it is “quite obvious that a dismissal will be announced”.
Fritzl was declared “no longer a danger” by a regional court in 2022 and was allowed to be transferred to a regular jail; however, the ruling was subsequently overturned by the Higher Regional Court in Vienna.
One of the worst criminal cases in Austrian history is the Fritzl case, which surfaced in the municipality of Amstetten in 2008.
He was found guilty of rape, incest, and enslaving his daughter in addition to killing one of his children via neglect.
Since then, Fritzl’s daughter and her kids have changed who they are.