A regional court in the western German city of Essen on Monday jailed the five men, aged between 17 and 24, after hearing they had committed a string of "appalling crimes."

Between 2016 and 2018, the men — from the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Wuppertal — were found to have lured girls as young as 16 into a car under false pretenses.

The girls' mobile telephones would then be taken from them, and the doors locked. The victims would be taken to remote places, where they would then be raped by the gang.

Only one of the men would get in touch with each victim initially, and arrange to meet her, the court heard. The group exchanged details of girls, and later boasted about their acts, on two WhatsApp online chat groups they had set up.

The group would talk about "doing a scorpion" as code for to the rapes.

Threatened with beating

One girl was threatened with what would happen if she resisted: "If you don't sleep with us, we'll break your arm, beat you black and blue and throw you in the bushes," the court heard they had told her.

Read more: Germany redefines rape — A survey of international laws

The men were found guilty of six counts of rape and handed prison sentences of up to six years and three months, with the lowest jail term being three years and nine months. The prosecution had demanded prison terms of up to seven years and nine months.

The court was told by one victim that, in the days after she was raped, she no longer knew if she wanted to live. Others said they could no longer cope at school, or dare to go outside.

Number of rapes possibly higher

Judge Volker Uhlenbrock described the men's actions as "misogynistic, abhorrent, and particularly humiliating."

"The defendants exploited the vulnerable situation of their victims," he said.

Read more: Amnesty International decries Europe's 'outdated' rape laws

Seven allegations of rape were made initially, but one of the cases was later dropped. However, investigators said they believed the real number of rapes the group carried out could have been substantially higher.

While four of the group were tried as youths, the oldest was sentenced as an adult at the time of the crimes. Three of the men confessed to their crimes during the trial.

rc/msh (AFP, dpa)

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