A German man, Ralph Jankus, faced manslaughter charges after his newlywed wife died following a 48-hour BDSM sex marathon involving a long bristled sex toy, and was slapped with a suspended prison sentence of 18 months, the German newspaper Bild reported on Thursday.
The verdict by Judge Johannes Hochgürtel of Krefeld court in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, says that the internal injuries inflicted on 49-year-old Christel were accidental and that the sex was consensual, adding the 52-year-old, who was subsequently found to be in good mental health, was not likely to repeat the act.
Ex-head of a recruiting agency Jankus, insisted throughout the trial, which kicked off last year, that he had dearly loved his wife.
The couple got married in July 2018 and days later enjoyed a mammoth sex romp, with Jankus inserting a 20-centimetre sex toy “with bristles, or spikes,” as the public prosecutor put it, inside her, which later was found to have fatally perforated her intestines.
The accused, who confessed that he had been involved in BDSM sessions for the past 30 years, told the court that emergency services were called to their home sometime later, but were unable to help, and the woman died shortly afterwards.
He said that his wife had previously complained about discomfort after sex and even preventively underwent a colonoscopy, which found there was nothing wrong with her.
Christel’s 30-year-old-son said that his mother had been mentally unstable and suffered from abuse when she was a little girl.
She had also allegedly reported being harassed by her husband before the couple married and had received treatment in a psychiatric clinic over the span of their relationship, which started in 2011.
The victim’s son recalled that his mother showed him bruises all over her body, claiming she had fled to a women’s shelter in 2018, telling him that she would prefer to never see Jankus again. The son, however, added that he thought that his mother really did love Jankus though. His own partner, also a witness in the case, testified that Christel was not allowed to leave Jankus’ home without his permission.