German incest father-of-eight Detlef S jailed

A man whose stepdaughter bore eight of his children has been jailed by a German court for 14-and-a-half years.

Identified as Detlef S, 48, he admitted sexually abusing his biological daughter as well as forcing her and his stepdaughter into prostitution.

Details of the case, which was heard at a court in the western city of Koblenz, have shocked Germany.

Detlef S's stepson, who was also abused, said he and his sisters had waited for his conviction for 13 years.

An unemployed lorry-driver, the defendant had begun abusing his stepchildren in 1987 when they were four years old and he had continued until his arrest in 2010.

He first began molesting his daughter when she was nine.

Some German media have labelled the man the "German Fritzl" after an Austrian man jailed for life in 2009 for locking up his daughter in a dungeon for 24 years; she bore seven of his children.

One of the eight children Detlef S's stepdaughter had has since died.

The case has prompted criticism of youth welfare services who had been in contact for some time with the family, who lived in the small village of Fluterschen, near Bonn.

Commentators asked why no-one had noticed the stepdaughter had become pregnant so many times without the involvement of any obvious boyfriend.

The stepson himself complained about the conduct of social workers, saying: "If you are a trained social worker, you are supposed to go there and interview the victims without the perpetrator being present, and not altogether."