Josef Fritzl Raped Daughter in Front of Children

German newspaper Spiegel reports that Josef Fritzl raped his daughter Elisabeth in front of their own children during the early years of her captivity.

The news from Austria is getting worse and worse, and more horrific incidents of Josef Fritzl is coming out from his daughter, friends and others. This information obtained by Spiegel says that Josef repeatedly raped his daughter in front of the children they obtained together. During her first nine years of captivity, Elisabeth Fritzl was confined to a single room in the basement. From 1984 to 1993, her father held her captive and raped Elisabeth in the room she shared with the her children. Only later on Josef expanded the basement with additional rooms. Until the expansion was completed, the children born to Elisabeth were repeatedly exposed to Josef raping their mother. Elisabeth told the police recently that her father lured her into the basement to help him carry a door downstairs. He then locked her inside. Once she was in, he handcuffed her to a post for the first few days and for the next six to nine months he put her on a leash, Josef admitted to the investigators. Elisabeth Fritzl told the investigators that her mother was not aware of her captivity. She said that her father acted alone in providing her and the children with food and clothing. The local child welfare agency said they monitored Josef Fritzl and his family for a number of years but didn’t notice any suspicious activities or behaviors. Josef had lied to them that Elisabeth ran away and joined a cult, leaving behind her children. One neighbor Josef L. told the Austrian TV station ATV that he learned about his landlord abusing his young daughter. She once ran away because of repeated rapes but was caught eventually by her father. He wanted to contact the police but was afraid of Josef Fritzl, so he kept quiet. Now he regrets that decision. After repeated attempts to run away, Josef Fritzl then decided to lock Elisabeth in the basement.