The head of MA 10, Daniela Cochlar, has rejected allegations of cover-up in the past few days. According to media reports, she said that it would be decided on a case-by-case basis how information would be provided. In an interview with the APA, Cochlar emphasized that they were doing their best to shed light on the matter: “We take it really seriously.” A parents’ evening for families from the affected location is being organized for today, Thursday evening. At the request of the parents, this should take place with the exclusion of the (media) public.
According to public prosecutor Bussek, four cases are now being reviewed by the authority. It is about the accusation of serious sexual abuse of minors or the sexual abuse of minors. In the case that dates back a year, an expert report was commissioned, the result of which has now been received. Bussek did not provide any information about the content. In the three cases that have only just become known, expert opinions still have to be obtained. “The expert has already been appointed to prepare an expert opinion on all three cases.”
Furthermore, on behalf of the City of Vienna, a specially appointed commission is investigating the allegations and procedures surrounding the case. The committee met for the first time yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, for a lengthy session. “We have defined the central question and stated that we will check the process from the suspected case to the present day,” reported the city’s child and youth advocate, Ercan Nik Nafs of the APA.
Independent Commission
Further details on the content of the meeting and the further procedure were not announced. The plan is to present a report with the results in early July. The board consists of three people. This is a representative of the child and youth ombudsman, the child protection center Möwe and the Vienna child and youth welfare service.
Nik Nafs assured the independence of the commission in the APA interview: “The independence and freedom from instructions of the child and youth ombudsman and the commission is secured, 100 percent.”
lawsuit announced
The lawyer Johannes Bügler had recently expressed doubts about this. He represents five pairs of parents whose children would be cared for in the facility concerned. According to the parents, the children would show symptoms of possible abuse. He does not yet know whether the three cases known to date yesterday, Wednesday, are among his mandates, as he told the APA, since he has not yet been able to view any relevant files. He said he would sue the city.
On Thursday, the Austrian child protection centers and the Working Group for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation (ECPAT Austria) also spoke up. In a broadcast, they called for mandatory standards for child protection. Such concepts would, for example, increase security, enable a clearly regulated procedure in the event of suspected cases and give the employees of an organization security in their actions.