Austrian rapist father Josef Fritzl gets life term

St Poelten: Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for locking up and raping his daughter in a cellar over 24 years, fathering seven children with her, and causing the death of an infant son.

Fritzl, 73, had pleaded guilty to incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and murder, by neglect, in the death of a newborn boy underground.

He initially denied the murder and slavery counts but reversed his plea after watching 11 hours of videotaped testimony from daughter Elisabeth screened in court on Tuesday.

Fritzl was found guilty of murder of the newborn, the most serious charge, because he failed to seek help despite knowing the boy was in danger of dying.