Parents who spent 599 days in prison are freed after teenage daughter admits lying in Swiss court that they sexually abused her

A Swiss couple who spent 599 days behind bars after being found guilty of abusing their teenage daughter have been freed after she admitted to lying about the allegations. 

The teenager had accused her mother and stepfather of physical and sexual abuse. 

A Zurich court said the then-14-year-old’s claims had a ‘high probability of credibility’, and sentenced her stepfather to three years in prison, while her mother received a 22-month sentence in July 2021. 

This was even though her teachers had told the court she was known to lie regularly and had spoken of hearing voices in her head. 

Following an appeal at the High Court in 2023, the stepfather was sentenced to 50 months for aggravated assault and multiple counts of child sexual abuse, while the mother received 47 months for aiding and abetting.

Now aged 19, the teen has withdrawn her allegations, and the High Court has since overturned her parents’ convictions, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reports. 

In her confession, she said she had lied because she ‘only wanted her freedom,’ according to the publication, adding that she never intended to file a police report at the time. 

The Zurich juvenile prosecutor’s office has since opened a criminal investigation into the young woman for false accusation, obstruction of justice, and unlawful deprivation of liberty.

A Swiss couple who spent 599 days behind bars after being found guilty of abusing their teenage daughter have been freed after she admitted to lying. File image: Zurich court

A preliminary investigation confirmed the authenticity of the young woman’s confession and revealed no evidence that she had been pressured to retract her accusations. 

Following her confession, questions are being raised over how the teenager managed to deceive authorities. 

Her original allegations were extremely detailed, including being punched and kicked, and 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 and told the court she would dress in multiple layers of clothing to protect herself from the abuse. 

Her false accusations led to her and her younger siblings being placed into foster care.