Unbelievable case in Lower Austria

Girl (10) stalked – still only probation

According to his records, the pensioner must have abused dozens of girls on cruise ships.(Bild: Marco -stock.adobe.com null)

He took the same bus, searched for her on the school grounds and lurked in the bushes with binoculars. A 74-year-old man thought he was friends with a ten-year-old girl from Lower Austria. The police then made a shock discovery at the German pensioner's home: numerous depictions of child abuse showing him with young girls. However, he does not have to fear any consequences for this in Korneuburg provincial court.

So much about the trial in Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria) is highly disturbing. A 74-year-old man sits in the dock. He smiles nicely and answers politely. But behind this smile lie abysses that only come to light more than 30 years later. The German pensioner has clear pedophilic tendencies - and has had them for a long time.

"Befriended" with a ten-year-old
This becomes particularly clear through his contact with a ten-year-old girl. The accused got to know the girl in the summer of 2024 during learning lessons. But it didn't stop there. He chatted with the young Lower Austrian girl, also met up with her - and talked about more than inappropriate topics.

"She answered yes. I was her best friend at the time. We had a brother-sister relationship," the 74-year-old tries to put things into perspective. "You say yourself that you were in love," the judge confronts him. "Not in love, but I was very fond of the girl," says the pensioner about the disturbing relationship.

Lurking in the bushes with binoculars
Which the parents of the then ten-year-old found out about in September 2024 and of course immediately banned. A restraining order was also issued against the man. Which left him untouched. All of a sudden, he started turning up near the home more often, getting on the same bus as the girl and hanging around the school grounds. In June, the parents discovered him lurking in a bush with binoculars ...

She never told me that she had a bad feeling about it.

74-jähriger Pensionist über zehnjähriges Opfer

What might have followed is anyone's guess. Because the police intervened and searched his house - where they found the 74-year-old's "memory cabinet", as he calls it himself. With numerous depictions of child abuse. They showed him performing sexual acts on little girls.

Abuse without any consequences
The abominations that the pensioner recorded date back over 30 years. And which he now tries to explain in a completely absurd way: "I had a sexual state of emergency. It was at the time when my son from my first marriage was born and my wife refused any sexual contact. It's clear that I had an urge." He also reveals his distorted view of girls: "Getting involved with adults was dangerous because they can make demands. I was only interested in quick gratification. The children in question didn't see it that way. It was a game for them."

He sought out his young victims on cruise ships in the early nineties because that's where he worked. What is particularly shocking is that the 74-year-old is not on trial in Korneuburg for these crimes and will never be convicted. This is because the Austrian authorities have no jurisdiction over a German citizen who has allegedly committed crimes in another country. In Germany, the charges are time-barred. Under criminal law, all that remains is the possession of the gruesome files since 2004, when the man came to Austria.

The non-appealable sentence for stalking a minor and possession of child abuse images therefore has more than a pallid aftertaste: 15 months on probation.

I copied everything onto DVDs and put them in my memory cabinet.

Jahrzehntelang sammelte der Deutsche die Kindesmissbrauchsdarstellungen.

"You don't have to go to prison"
Mitigating factors: his confession and good character. "You have a pedophilic disposition," the judge states the obvious. "You can't whitewash anything you've done. You don't have to go to prison, but we're keeping a close eye on you." His "memory cabinet" is confiscated, there is no therapy.