As the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to the APA on Thursday evening in this context, the authorities are investigating 16 accused on suspicion of serious sexual abuse of minors and once morest one accused on suspicion of rape.
On Thursday morning there were raids on the suspects, who are said to have filmed some of the rapes and used them to blackmail the victim.
Suspects between 13 and 18 years old
The police confirmed that there was a search at several residential addresses in Vienna in the early hours of the morning. According to police spokeswoman Julia Schick, the police action was related to “investigations into a case of serious sexual abuse of an underage female victim.” She did not provide any further details, citing victim protection. The investigation is therefore aimed at suspects between the ages of 13 and 18.
The investigation is just beginning, Nina Bussek from the Vienna public prosecutor’s office told the APA on Thursday evening. Contrary to initial media reports, Bussek emphasized that only immediate interrogations and no arrests were ordered. The public prosecutor’s office is now waiting for the reports from the interrogations. “We then check the interviews with the accused,” said Bussek in response to an APA request. In any case, the accused young people are at large.
They are said to have sexually abused the girl several times – including in a parking garage, in an apartment and in a stairwell. The acts were filmed and the victim was blackmailed with them.
A police statement on Thursday evening said that a 16-year-old had resisted state authority during the demonstration for immediate questioning. The teenager was temporarily arrested. After the other suspects were questioned, they were reported to be at large.
Ex-boyfriend as a starting point
The starting point is said to have been the twelve-year-old’s first boyfriend, whom she probably met at the beginning of 2023. He is said to have put pressure and coercion on the child. He is also said to have left it to his accomplices for further serious abuse. The victim is said to have turned to his mother very late out of shame and because she was likely to have been blackmailed with the cell phone videos or made to commit further crimes.
The police want to announce further details regarding the investigation on Friday.
SERVICE – In Austria, women who experience violence can find help and information at the women’s helpline at: 0800-222-555, www.frauenhelpline.at; at the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women’s Shelters (AÖF) at www.aoef.at; the Vienna Intervention Center once morest Violence in the Family/Violence Protection Center Vienna: www.interventionsstelle-wien.at and the 24-hour women’s emergency number of the City of Vienna: 01-71719 as well as the women’s shelter emergency number on 057722 and the Austrian Violence Protection Centers: 0800/700-217; Police emergency number: 133.
