The child lived in the apartment next door and wanted to borrow a vacuum cleaner. The accused only confessed during the main hearing; before that he denied everything. The defense attorney spoke of “singular behavior” that arose from a “sudden impulse to act.”
The defendant lived alone in the apartment in Graz, his neighbors were the ten-year-old boy and his older brother. There are said to have been two “lighter advances” before the Syrian allegedly sexually abused the child. The victim returned to his own apartment distraught and crying, the brother said on the witness stand. “There are DNA traces that clearly support the victim’s statement,” emphasized the prosecutor.
“There was an error”
While the defendant had initially denied everything, he now confessed. “It was a mistake,” he said. “It wasn’t a mistake, it was a crime,” the judge corrected him. As soon as the judge started talking regarding the specific crime, he evaded it. “Up to that point I had seen him almost like a son,” he said, adding that his first advances were “for fun.” The boy had managed to run away twice in similar situations.
“No regrets so far”
“You knew how old he was?” asked the judge. “No, I thought he was 14 or 15,” the man replied, adding: “I have eight children myself.” “Exactly,” remarked the judge and stated: “So far I don’t see any remorse.”
The jury imposed a prison sentence of five years. The judgment is not final.
