Two German police officers each received prison terms of two years and three months on Monday for abusing their office to sexually abuse a Polish-born woman whose documentation they were investigating.

The prosecution had earlier dropped a charge of aggravated rape by the two men, aged 23 and 28.

The court found that the officers had traveled with the woman to her home in Marlishausen in the state of Thuringia in September 2019 to check her documents after doubting the authenticity of documentation she had presented.

It acknowledged the possibility that the woman had initiated sexual intercourse but found that she had done this out of fear of the consequences should she not do so.

Where the prosecution had called for a suspended sentence, the court found that the crime had been deeply shocking and damaging to the integrity of the police and imposed a prison term.