Tortured in a dog crate

“Positively astonished that the boy is still alive”

(Bild: zVg)

The twelve-year-old boy who was tortured by his mother for months was in acute mortal danger when he finally got help. Further horrific details were revealed in court on the second day of the trial ...

"A body temperature of only 26.5 degrees is not normally compatible with life," says the doctor who treated Gerhard (name changed) after he was admitted to Donaustadt Hospital on November 23, 2022. He was "positively astonished" that the boy was still alive. The boy, who had been severely abused by his mother in the Waldviertel and tortured in a dog box, was brought to the hospital at the last minute.

The dog crate was set up in the courtroom as an illustration.(Bild: zVg)

The two accused women in Krems District Court.(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

(Bild: zVg)

The child also survived thanks to a social worker. The second defendant, an "intimate friend" of Gerhard's mother, had called the woman on November 22 and told her in confused words that Gerhard was in a "precarious condition". They drove to the apartment together. "I was very shocked," recalls the social worker. The emaciated child was lying on the floor next to the mattress and was no longer responsive.

The mother stood there like a bystander and showed no emotion.

Sozialarbeiterin

"No emotion"
"The mother stood there like a bystander and showed no emotion." - "All right, then I'll just take him to hospital tomorrow," the tormentor is said to have said. "Better call the ambulance right now," said the second defendant, who is said to have given the instructions to torture the child for months.

The social worker asked the mother twice in a low voice and once in a loud voice to call an ambulance, which she then did: "Mechanically, as if she were ordering a pizza." - "The boy owes his life to you," the judge said to the witness.

The boy owes you his life.

Richterin zu Sozialarbeiterin

On October 25, the school had already reported a risk of harm. A teacher called the child and youth welfare service five times.

Youth welfare office: Follow-up visit on November 18
A follow-up visit was carried out on October 28, 2022. Although the boy had his arms bandaged and only answered in monosyllables, there was no one-on-one conversation with the child. There was no check in the fridge.

 Unbelievable: On November 18, 2022, there was another home visit. The boy was leaning on a table in the sparsely furnished room and writing something. According to the social worker, he was trembling, had blue hands and was behaving "very conspicuously". It was "extremely cold" in the apartment. Nevertheless, the man saw "no imminent danger" - just a few days before Gerhard was admitted.