"Krone" Editorial

3 Years in Prison for Gunkl: “Lex Teichtmeister” Takes Effect

Nachrichten
22.10.2026 18:30

“I don’t think much of ad hoc legislation,” says Justice Minister Anna Sporrer at every opportunity. Yet it was precisely such legislation that led to Günther Paal—alias “Gunkl”—receiving a three-year prison sentence on Thursday.

Hardly anyone had expected in the run-up to the trial that Paal would receive a fully unsuspended prison sentence. Least of all the disgraced cabaret artist himself.

His attorney, Florian Höllwarth, had also argued convincingly beforehand that the sentence should “naturally” be suspended. Far from it! “Gunkl” must now serve even more time in prison than his two blackmailers.

Reporting from the courtroom for the “Krone”: Anja Richter
Reporting from the courtroom for the “Krone”: Anja Richter(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Imre Antal, APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The sentence was ultimately made possible by the oh-so-maligned ad hoc legislation—specifically the “Lex Teichtmeister” of 2023. The amendment resulted in Paal now being charged with two crimes—possession of child abuse depictions and sexual assault of the toddler.

Before the amendment, possession of child pornography was merely a “misdemeanor.” According to the judge, the combination of multiple crimes served as an aggravating factor.

Often, gaps in the law only become apparent when high-profile cases arise. As the “Gunkl” case demonstrates, closing these gaps is not a mistake in and of itself. What is truly sad, however, is that it takes sensational cases in the first place for policymakers to address these shortcomings.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

Loading...
00:00 / 00:00
Abspielen
Schließen
Aufklappen
kein Artikelbild
Loading...
Vorige 10 Sekunden
Zum Vorigen Wechseln
Abspielen
Zum Nächsten Wechseln
Nächste 10 Sekunden
00:00
00:00
1.0x Geschwindigkeit
Loading
Kommentare Banner - Die Stimme Österreichs

Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.

Hinweis in eigener Sache: Das krone.at-Forum präsentiert sich ab sofort in neuem Design! Wir freuen uns über konstruktives Feedback. Damit die Diskussionen in den Kommentarbereichen beim jeweiligen Thema bleiben, können Sie uns Rückmeldungen hier hinterlassen.

Kostenlose Spiele
Vorteilswelt

Magazine der Kronen Zeitung