Five clients per night

17-year-old forced into prostitution in Vienna

When the young woman resisted, the defendant beat her.(Bild: Tinnakorn - stock.adobe.com)

A Bulgarian man brought a 17-year-old girl to Austria with the promise of offering her a better life. Here, however, the 19-year-old forced the girl to work in a brothel using enormous violence. After the verdict, he only had two weeks in prison left.

She dreamed of having her own house and car, a better life. Not characterized by violence and poverty as in her home country of Bulgaria. She finally met the 19-year-old defendant online. He promised her a better life in Austria. "He was nice to her. He was charming," describes the public prosecutor in the Vienna Regional Court.

Victim sent to procure in Vienna
Once in Vienna, however, this turned out to be a brazen lie. "He took advantage of the girl's coercive situation and forced her into prostitution. He kept the profits," said the prosecutor. From December 2023, the 17-year-old had to offer her body for money, otherwise the young Bulgarian became violent.

"Short period of offense, but very intense"
Even her work colleagues and the boss of the brothel noticed the girl's serious injuries. She always waved them off and made excuses. Once the young man beat her bloody with a child's chair, another time he injured her with a key; she was left with scars. Beaten black and blue, she finally managed to escape on January 5 - she even had to be stitched up.

"It may have been a very short period of time, but it was very intense. She had at least five clients per night," says the private party representative, explaining what the 17-year-old had to go through in those 40 days or so.

Nevertheless, he does not fit the classic image of a pimp. When you imagine a pimp, you think of a bald man, two meters tall and with three gold chains. No, that's not him.

Verteidiger Mirsad Musliu

And even defense lawyer Mirsad Musliu cannot advise his client to do more than plead guilty to human trafficking, cross-border prostitution and pimping. "He still doesn't fit the classic image of a pimp. When you imagine a pimp, you think of a bald man, two meters tall and with three gold chains. No, that's not him."

Only a few more weeks in prison
The 19-year-old Bulgarian is finally sentenced in line with the indictment. He receives a two-year sentence, eight months of which he actually has to spend in prison. However, as he has already served most of it in pre-trial detention, he will be released in a few weeks. However, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum has an arrest warrant against him.