Lured into the basement

Boy (11) Forced to Lick His Abusers’ Shoes

Five teenagers lured the boy into the basement of an apartment building in Vienna. But instead of “chilling,” they punched, kicked, and coerced the 11-year-old.(Bild: Krone-Collage/stock.adobe.com null, Martin A. Jöchl)

Horrifying trial in Lower Austria: Four minors and a 14-year-old lured a child into the basement of an apartment building in the capital and brutally abused him. They pulled out their cell phones, filmed the incident, and laughed. Only one of the five juvenile perpetrators is old enough to be held accountable for the brutal attack. In the end, even the judge was speechless.

Everyone in Courtroom 14 at the Korneuburg Regional Court is deeply distressed as the judge plays the horrific video footage. In the footage, an 11-year-old boy is brutally beaten in the basement of an apartment building in Vienna by five youths, four of whom are minors. The young tormentors punch and kick their victim, slamming his head against the wall. The boy whimpers and begs them to let him go.

Disrespectful and Remorse-Free Responses 
“Shut the hell up and stop screaming, you b—,” a 14-year-old girl is heard yelling as she films the attack. The assault culminated in the 11-year-old—with whom the gang allegedly had a score to settle—being forced to lick their shoes while apologizing. It wasn’t until a neighbor heard the boy’s cries of pain that they let him go. The slight-built student suffered multiple injuries.

Everyone in the courtroom is stunned, except for the 13-year-old accomplice, who, due to his age, can only be questioned as a witness. After his disrespectful and unremorseful answers, the judge had instructed him to take a seat in the audience to watch the videos—“for educational reasons,” as he put it. With a defiant “I want to leave—I know them anyway,” the boy reluctantly takes his seat. And what happens when he sees on the screen the kicks to the face that he, too, had delivered to the 11-year-old in the basement? He bursts into laughter right there in the courtroom...

Prosecutor: “The victim as a punching bag” 
The perpetrators’ laughter can also be heard in the video itself. “They amused themselves at his expense, out of a sense of fun and boredom—the victim as a punching bag,” says the prosecutor, visibly shaken. She describes the young perpetrators as “system-breakers.”

All of them are or were placed in crisis centers, and in some cases even had to be removed from there by the police. They skip school, use drugs, and stay out all night. The judge tries to make it clear to each of them, one by one: “You’re on our list. If you keep this up, you’ll be in jail starting on your 14th birthday. We’re already waiting for you,” he says, earning bored glances from the boys.

“I can do whatever I want”
The 14-year-old has also dropped out of school: “I just didn’t feel like it anymore,” she says. “Did what you did at the shelter have any consequences for you?” asks Mr. Rat. “No. But they (note: the staff) did tell me that something like that isn’t nice.” But she can still do whatever she wants.

In court, the Vienna-born Romanian girl is sentenced to two years’ probation with a three-year probationary period. The judge wants to play it safe and asks, “Do you understand the verdict?” – “Yes” – “So what sentence did you receive?” The girl’s answer makes him slump back in his chair in resignation. It was: “None at all.”