Verdict handed down quickly

Six-year-old lured into apartment and raped

The 52-year-old defendant raped his neighbor’s child in Vienna.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Zwefo, stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

A horrific trial in Vienna. A 52-year-old man watched the neighborhood children playing in front of his apartment complex. He managed to get a six-year-old girl, whom he promised candy, to go inside with him. Once they reached the apartment door, he pushed the child inside and assaulted her. 

The burly man with the long beard enters Courtroom 307 at the Vienna Regional Court with his head bowed. The charges against the 52-year-old Syrian are shocking, even his defense attorney admits.

Carefree play turned into a nightmare
On July 3, 2025, the 6-year-old neighbor’s daughter and her siblings were playing in the courtyard in front of his apartment building in Vienna. This is where the accounts begin to diverge. While the man portrays it as though he was playing with the children and briefly went back into the apartment with the girl to fetch more chairs for the cozy get-together, the prosecutor says: “He lured the girl with a lollipop and then pushed her into his apartment.” 

The 52-year-old defendant raped the neighbor’s child in Vienna.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Zwefo, stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

There, Maria (name changed) was helplessly at the mercy of her tormentor. The rape of the child is said to have occurred by the bed through an act equivalent to sexual intercourse. Clear DNA traces were found in the girl’s genital area. This is likely why he changed the initial account he gave to the police. “I just adjusted her pants,” he said at the time. 

I just adjusted her pants.

So verantwortete sich der Mann vor der Polizei

None of the perpetrator’s versions hold up
Even during the trial, he first tries his own version: “She came along voluntarily because she wanted to help me with the chairs. She was playing and laughing. I only touched her briefly while she was standing by the bed,” he denies any use of force. “I then told her to leave so nothing serious would happen. I swear, that’s how it was,” he says, only to admit everything after the child’s testimony, which took place behind closed doors.

“I had taken ten milligrams of testosterone beforehand, for the gym. Unfortunately, that’s sexually stimulating,” the interpreter conveys the defendant’s disturbing admission; prior to his incarceration, he had been living on welfare. During a search of his home, nearly 6,000 files depicting child abuse were found. “Minor girls, even babies,” says the judge. His client is a pedophile and willing to undergo therapy, argues the defense attorney.

Four and a half years in prison
The indictment includes another charge: the man showed a pornographic video on his cell phone to another underage victim in a park. He ultimately admits to this as well.

The verdict is handed down quickly: four and a half years in prison.