In a deeply unsettling case that has shocked the community, a 61-year-old school janitor named Fernando P has been convicted for heinous acts against his wife. In a courtroom in Aachen, located in western Germany, Fernando was found guilty not only of abusing his wife but also of recording these assaults and distributing the footage online without her consent.

On Friday, the court handed down a sentence of eight years and six months in prison. This verdict comes after a trial that highlighted the egregious violation of privacy and personal rights. The court detailed Fernando’s crimes, noting that he breached the most intimate aspects of his wife’s private life through unauthorized recordings on 34 separate occasions. Among these counts, four involved aggravated rape paired with dangerous bodily harm.

In addition to these charges, Fernando was also convicted of aggravated sexual coercion and sexual assault. The severity of his actions underscores the gravity of the offenses and the profound impact on the victim’s life.

The court has indicated that there is a one-week window in which an appeal can be filed against this judgment. As the legal process continues, the case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of safeguarding personal rights and the serious consequences of violating them.

He was also convicted on charges of aggravated sexual coercion and sexual assault.

“The defendant repeatedly secretly sedated and sexually abused his wife in the marital home,” the court said in a statement.

“He also filmed the acts and made the recordings available to other users in group chats and on internet platforms.”

Accused of crimes spanning nearly 15 years, the court found him guilty of offences between 2018 and 2024.

He was acquitted on some other charges, details of which have not been released by the court.

The verdict comes exactly a year after Frenchman Pelicot – who solicited dozens of strangers from a chatroom for a near 10-year period to rape and abuse his then-wife Gisèle – was found guilty of aggravated rape.

Forty-nine other men were all found guilty of rape or sexual assault in that case.

The Pelicot case shocked the world and sparked a cultural reckoning on gender-based violence and misogyny in France.

‘A very significant case’

The Aachen case is the first of its kind to be heard by the German courts, according to the campaign group Nur Ja Heisst Ja, whose name – translated to “Only Yes Means Yes” – highlights its mission to change how rape is legally defined.

Last year, Hamburg-based investigative journalists unearthed evidence of a man who, for 14 years, had shared videos on an adult website allegedly showing the drugging and raping of his wife.

But that man was never charged; he passed away in 2024.

The Aachen case is ” very significant,” said Jill S, an activist from Nur Ja Heisst Ja who asked CNN not to use her last name to avoid online abuse, because, “It’s a case that kind of shows where there are gaps in our legal system,” she told CNN before Friday’s verdict.

In Germany, consent has traditionally been defined through the “no means no’” principle, which campaigners say deprives victims of sexual abuse the ability to give explicit consent for sexual acts.

While the law does require explicit consent in exceptional circumstances – specifically when victims cannot express their will, such as when they’re unconscious or drugged – Nur Ja Heisst Ja say it still falls short of protecting women.

They are campaigning for the German government to change the definition of rape to include a “yes means yes” standard, arguing that the current law still places the burden on victims to verbally resist rape and other sexual violence.

Like “any kind of topic around sexual violence, it’s not taken very serious by the government,” Jill S said.

The Aachen case also highlights another key problem, according to the campaigners:

The possession of rape content is currently legal in Germany.

Nur Ja Heisst Ja is hopeful that this might soon change, as Kathrin Wahlmann, a justice minister in the state of Lower Saxony, has launched a statewide campaign to have that possession criminalised.

‘Online university of violence’

Across the border in France, lawmaker Sandrine Josso also believes that laws need to be adapted to protect women from this kind of abuse.

For Josso, the issue is personal.

In November 2023, Josso alleges she was drugged by then 66-year-old French senator Joël Guerriau at a party.

She filed a criminal complaint, with a trial beginning in January.

Guerriau has denied all allegations.

“I think that today’s laws are not sufficiently grounded in reality,” Josso told CNN, saying that she believes that current laws do not factor into account how the online world fuels unique eco-systems of abuse.

“Social media has enabled it (sexual abuse) because communities form and share tips – essentially refining and professionalising their methods. That’s what makes it so alarming,” she said.

Both Pelicot and Fernando P shared their abusive content online.

Josso said that websites and chatrooms hosting rape content are like an “online university of violence” where men can teach each other how to drug their partners and revel in sharing footage of their alleged crimes.

For Jill S in Germany, online platforms and governments have a lot to answer for when it comes to addressing the spread and propagation of this content.

“I think the sad thing is that all of these men felt really, really safe sharing this content, putting it online, leaving thousands of videos on their laptops at home.”

She hopes Friday’s verdict may help to finally shatter this illusion of safety and lead to the conviction of more abusers.