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Crime

Josef Fritzl, who raped daughter and kept her captive for 24 years, could move to regular prison

Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison a year later for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and negligent homicide

Audrey Conklin By Audrey Conklin Fox News
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Josef Fritzl, an Austrian man who held his daughter captive in his basement as a sex slave for 24 years, fathering seven of her children, may be removed from a psychiatric detention center to a regular prison, according to global reports.

Fritzl, 87, will remain in the psychiatric prison while prosecutors evaluate the situation, The Associated Press reported.

Defendant Josef Fritzl arrives for the last day of his trial at the court of law in Sankt Poelten in Austria's province of Lower Austria March 19, 2009. Fritzl, a 73-year-old Austrian who locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, is expected to be jailed for the rest of his life today. Fritzl reversed his plea and admitted guilt on all charges in court on Wednesday after watching the daughter he locked up and raped describe her ordeal in an 11-hour video testimony.

Defendant Josef Fritzl arrives for the last day of his trial at the court of law in Sankt Poelten in Austria's province of Lower Austria March 19, 2009.  (REUTERS/POOL/Helmut Fohringer )

Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison a year later for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and negligent homicide after he killed one of the sons he fathered soon after the baby was born, according to AP and Reuters.

CELLAR WHERE JOSEF FRITZL HELD DAUGHTER AND FATHERED HER CHILDREN TO BE FILLED WITH CEMENT

Investigators said in 2009 that the incestuous killer burned his son's body in a furnace.

Defendant Josef Fritzl is pictured during proceedings on the last day the last day of his trial at the court of law in Sankt Poelten in Austria's province of Lower Austria March 19, 2009. An Austrian court on Thursday sentenced Josef Fritzl to life behind bars for rape, enslavement and murder for locking up and raping his daughter in a cellar over 24 years and causing his son's death. The 73-year-old Austrian had said he was sorry from the "bottom of my heart" over the case, in which he fathered seven children with daughter Elisabeth.

Defendant Josef Fritzl is pictured during proceedings on the last day the last day of his trial at the court of law in Sankt Poelten in Austria's province of Lower Austria March 19, 2009. (REUTERS/POOL/Robert Jaeger )

A panel of Austrian judges made the decision Wednesday, and prosecutors appealed, court spokesman Ferdinand Schuster told the Austria Press Agency.

DAUGHTER OF AUSTRIAN ‘HORROR DAD’ JOSEF FRITZL REPORTEDLY WAKES FROM COMA

Fritzl's daughter, Elisabeth disappeared in 1984 when she was 18 years old. She was found in 2008 after 24 years of captivity and brutal abuse. Authorities charged Fritzl that same year.

Colonel Franz Polzer, chief investigator of the district of Lower Austria shows a detail picture of the cellar appartement, where a father imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and had seven children with her, during a press conference on April 28, 2008 in Amstetten, Austria. According to police Josef F. kept his daughter Elizabeth, now 42, imprisoned in his basement and sexually abused her. Three of the children, now aged 5, 18 and 19, had never seen the light of day until the eldest was recently taken to hospital because of a severe illness.

Colonel Franz Polzer, chief investigator of the district of Lower Austria shows a detail picture of the cellar appartment, where a father imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and had seven children with her, during a press conference on April 28, 2008. (Johannes Simon via Getty Images)

Prosecutors said at the time that Fritzl lured her into his windowless basement, drugged her and locked her in a room while telling those who asked about her whereabouts that she had run away.

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"He forced Elisabeth into slave-like conditions ... shut her away in the cellar and made her totally dependent on him, forcing her into sexual acts and treating her as if she was his own property," the St. Poelten provincial prosecutors’ office said in a 2009 statement, according to Reuters.

Prosecutors also alleged that Frizl threatened to kill Elisabeth and gas their children to death

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.