The Vienna police announced further details at a press conference on Friday in the case of the alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old.
Accordingly, 17 people are considered suspects, including twelve underage boys between the ages of 14 and 18 and a young adult aged 19. Two suspects are not yet 14 years old and are therefore not of criminal responsibility and therefore cannot be prosecuted. Two perpetrators are still unknown.
The accused and the victim had met through one of the suspects, with whom the then twelve-year-old is said to have initially exchanged affection. Through this the girl came into contact with the other boys, who all knew each other from parks in Vienna-Favoriten.
- Video: Twelve year old abused
Subsequently, there were attacks, which occurred between February 2023 and June 2023 and are said to have taken place in parks, stairwells, toilet facilities and in the tenth district of Vienna – where the girl and most of the suspects live. In one case, a hotel room was rented and, according to the police, the girl was abused by several boys.
Acts filmed and posted online
In April, the girl was forcefully forced to tolerate sexual acts by a 16-year-old youth from Syria, reported Florian Finda, deputy head of the LKA Süd, which is responsible for the investigation. Whether this was a rape or another crime of abuse “is a matter for the public prosecutor’s legal assessment,” said Finda. The press conference discussed suspicion of serious sexual abuse of a minor (§ 206 StGB) as well as the production of sexually-related abuse material of a child within the meaning of § 207a StGB. Accordingly, the perpetrators filmed some of the incriminated actions and sent them to each other via social media or WhatsApp chats. According to the police, the material was not made available to a wider public.
The girl – the victim is now 13 years old and an Austrian citizen – went to a police station in October, accompanied by her mother and her boyfriend, and reported the numerous attacks. A victim protection organization was called in and a report was subsequently filed. The suspects are of different nationalities: among them are Austrians, boys with Turkish roots, but also a young Italian and a young Serb. Some of them are said to have previous convictions. In relation to the acts of abuse, none of them are currently in custody.
The accused only partially confessed
On February 29th, the 13 suspects who were known by name were brought in for questioning at the same time, “so as not to allow any agreements to be made,” as Finda said. The accused – all of whom were already known to the police – only partially confessed or denied the crimes. A boy is said not to have cooperated with the police – he was temporarily arrested for resisting the authorities. The girl is being looked after by a victim protection facility.
