A German couple poured petrol over their five-year-old son and set him ablaze, before returning to searching online for sex partners while he writhed in agony, a court heard.
The incident was not discovered until several days later, when the boy was out shopping with his mother and a shop attendant noticed his injuries and called police.
Oliver and Jessica Schneider, both 37, were seen holding hands and kissing in the dock on the first day of their attempted murder trial in Regensburg, south Germany.
Pure evil: Oliver and Jessica Schneider, 37, pictured hugging in court, reportedly watched their child writhe in agony while they calmly went looking for sex partners online
The couple have five children, but their daughter, 11, said of the diabolical duo that ‘sex was the only thing that interested them.’
It was a petrol station attendant named only as Katja S. who alerted police after the badly burned child came in with his mother to buy groceries five days after his ordeal.
They alerted the youth welfare office which swooped on their filthy, dog-filled apartment in Cham, Bavaria, to take all five children into care.
Jessica Schneider is said to have been the one who poured petrol over her own son
The parents were arrested and are on trial for attempted murder.
Prosecutor Ulrike Klein said it was the child’s mother who poured the petrol over him and ignited it.
She told the court: ‘They did not provide the child with sufficient medication, food or liquid, but they devoted themselves to sexual activities, searched the Internet for sexual partners and made photos of themselves in the garden.’
A police officer said his siblings told them: ‘They said he had cried five to six times a day for an hour and bled.’
The boy will never be able to move one of his arms normally despite several operations.
The father is facing life imprisonment, the mother a secure psychiatric hospital.
After the arrest she insisted on making a statement to police about the benefits of yoga exercises.
The trial continues.