A US soldier who took part in the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family has been sentenced to 100 years in a military prison.

Military judge Colonel Stephen Henley found Sergeant Paul Cortez, 24, guilty of conspiracy to commit rape, four counts of felony murder, rape, housebreaking and violating a general order.

Under a plea bargain reached with prosecutors prior to a three-day court-martial, Cortez, of Barstow, California, agreed to testify against three others still facing prosecution in the case.

This ensured he would escape the death penalty but will now serve life in a military prison instead. He was also given a dishonourable discharge.

Five soldiers were charged in the gang rape and murders of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, her mother, father and younger sister in March 2006, a crime that outraged Iraqis.

Cortez said he and suspected ringleader Pvt Steven Green, Spc James Barke, Pvt Jesse Spielman and Pvt Bryan Howard got drunk and plotted to attack the family at Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.

Green took the parents and sister into a bedroom and shot them, Cortez said. The three then took turns at raping the schoolgirl in the livingroom. Petrol was poured on her body and lit in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Green has been charged as a civilian and awaits trial in a Kentucky jail. Barker pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison. The other two are awaiting prosecution.

ITV News