Sexual abuse
Convicted children’s village counselor can barely speak German
The appeal hearing of a former supervisor of an SOS Children's Village facility in Vienna is short - the sentence of two and a half years in prison is confirmed. It also brings exciting things to light.
In August, the 51-year-old defendant was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in Landl for sexual abuse of minors, among other things. In 2021 and 2022, he committed 14 serious assaults on a boy as part of his work.
He is also alleged to have committed sexual acts against another 12-year-old resident of the facility - twice when the boy was awake and once when he was asleep. In the residential group, the social education worker was even the caregiver of his victim.
For reasons of general prevention, a clearly noticeable punishment is really necessary.
Der vorsitzende Richter in der Berufungsverhandlung
Surprisingly, right at the beginning of the trial it is discussed whether the social education worker from Brazil, who has lived in Austria for 25 years, needs an interpreter. In his statement, the man can barely manage a comprehensible German sentence. Only "Please mitigate" and "I am not a child molester" could be understood.
With the latter, the presiding OLG judge interjected: "That has already been legally established." - It was only about the level of the sentence. Once again, the defense lawyer used the argument that the young people had voluntarily participated in the sexual acts, some of which had even been initiated by them. "He stopped his actions immediately when the victims wanted him to," he says. In addition, the boys did not suffer any long-term damage.
"Severe psychological disorder"
The Senate is unimpressed by this: "We are dealing here with children who are in need of protection, some of whom are minors. An educator in particular can be expected to react correctly." The sentence of two and a half years' imprisonment remains in place. "For reasons of general prevention, a clearly noticeable sentence is really necessary," said Mr. Rat.
The second fact brought to light by the trial: the man suffers from a mental impairment, which - like his integrity - was seen as a mitigating factor by the court of first instance. For trial observers, the following question arises, which remains unanswered in the Palace of Justice: How could a man who apparently speaks very poor German and also has a "serious mental disorder" according to the court be a caregiver in a facility for children and young people in need of protection?
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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