As of: February 29, 2024, 9:21 p.m
By: Kilian Bäuml
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In Vienna, a 12-year-old is said to have been sexually abused by her ex-boyfriend and his friends over a period of months; 17 men are suspected.
Vienna – It is probably every parent’s nightmare when their child becomes a victim of abuse.
In Vienna, the case of abuse involving a 12-year-old apparently dragged on for months.
According to media reports, she is said to have been the victim of multiple gang rapes in Austria.
The police are investigating suspected serious sexual abuse of minors, the Austrian online portal
Krone
reported on Thursday .
17 young people, some of whom are minors themselves, are suspected of the crimes.
The alleged perpetrators are said to have filmed some of the rapes and used them to blackmail their victims.
For their part, the police only confirmed that there had been arrests in connection with “investigations into a case of serious sexual abuse of an underage female victim.”
No further information was provided due to the protection of the victim.
Months of abuse of a 12-year-old in Vienna: 17 young people are being investigated
The incidents are said to have started at the beginning of 2023 and arose from a previous relationship, reports the Austrian newspaper
Oe24
.
The victim's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend is said to have coerced her into sexual acts with him and then with his friends.
According to the newspaper, up to eight people were said to have been involved in the gang rape of the young people.
Some of the incidents are even said to have happened in public spaces, including in the parking garage at Vienna Central Station.
The total of 17 young people who are now being investigated claim that the sexual intercourse was consensual.
The victim also told the suspects the wrong age, so they assumed that the teenager was already 14 years old.
The alleged perpetrators face up to five years in prison.
In Vienna, 17 young people are currently suspected of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl over several months.
(Symbolic image) © IMAGO/Weingartner photo
Investigations are still at the beginning: “We will then check the interviews with the accused”
Nina Bussek from the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office told the APA on Thursday evening that the investigation into the case is only at the beginning.
Although several media outlets had already written about the arrest of suspects, Bussek says that so far only interrogations have taken place with the suspects and they are at large.
“We will then examine the interviews with the accused,” said Bussek at the request of the Austria Press Agency APA.
Criminal law for minors is a much-discussed topic; in Germany the debate heated up particularly after the Luise case.
While in Germany people under 14 are not punished, criminal law in other countries is much stricter.
(kiba/AFP)