Josef Fritzl, Austrian who held daughter captive for 24 years, can be moved to regular prison, court rules

Krems, Austria — An Austrian man who had kept his daughter captive for 24 years and raped her thousands of times, fathering seven children with her, can be moved from psychiatric detention to a regular prison, a court ruled on Thursday. The decision stipulates that Josef Fritzl, 88, will have to attend regular psychotherapy and undergo psychiatric evaluations during a 10-year probation period at the prison, Austria Press Agency reported.

A request to release him from detention was rejected but the decision is still a win for Fritzl's legal team as conditions in a regular prison are considered an improvement compared to strict controls in a psychiatric institution.

His atrocious crime was revealed in 2008 and he was sentenced in 2009 to life imprisonment for committing incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and negligent homicide of one of his infant sons.