Germany: 5 young men convicted over rape of several girls

BERLIN – Five young German men have been convicted over the rape of several schoolgirls in the Ruhr industrial region and given prison sentences.

News agency dpa reported that the state court in the western city of Essen handed the suspects, aged from 17 to 24, sentences ranging from three years and nine months to six years and three months.

The court found that, starting in 2016, the group — whose members used a chat group to make arrangements — lured girls into a car and raped them at out-of-the-way locations. The youngest of the six victims were 16 at the time.

Three of the defendants made confessions during the trial that ended Monday.