Swiss Parents Freed After Teenage Daughter Admitted Lying on Abuse Claims

A Swiss couple has walked free after serving 599 days in prison, a sentence handed down for abusing their teenage daughter who later admitted she was lying. The teenager originally accused her mother and stepfather of physical and sexual abuse. A Zurich court initially said the claims made by the then-14-year-old had a 'high probability of credibility'. Her stepfather received three years in jail, while her mother got a 22-month sentence back in July 2021. This ruling came even though teachers told the court she was known to lie regularly and that she spoke of hearing voices in her head.

An appeal at the High Court in 2023 changed things again. The stepfather was sentenced to 50 months for aggravated assault and multiple counts of child sexual abuse. The mother received 47 months for aiding and abetting. Now aged 19, the teen has withdrawn her allegations completely. The High Court overturned her parents' convictions since then, according to Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger. In her confession, she stated she lied because she 'only wanted her freedom'. She never intended to file a police report at the time, the publication added.

The Zurich juvenile prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation into the young woman for false accusation, obstruction of justice, and unlawful deprivation of liberty. A preliminary investigation confirmed the authenticity of her confession and revealed no evidence that she had been pressured to retract her accusations. Questions now swirl over how the teenager managed to deceive authorities with such precision. Her original allegations were extremely detailed. She described being punched and kicked, beaten with a vacuum cleaner and chairs by her mother and stepfather. She also described being sexually assaulted by her stepfather in the living room and garden. She told the court she would dress in multiple layers of clothing to protect herself from the abuse. These false accusations led to her and her younger siblings being placed into foster care.