The Education Directorate currently knows of 25 confirmed cases of abuse. Seized photos on a data carrier of the teacher would, however, point to significantly more victims.
Letters were recently sent to former students and employees of a Viennese middle school to find out more Teacher abuse victim to find. Now there are first reactions to it. The Directorate of Education is currently aware of 25 confirmed cases. In addition, the mother of a victim and another possible victim had reported since Tuesday, the education department said on Friday.
“We have not yet received any further feedback,” said a spokeswoman. However, two other victims reported to the child and youth prosecutor. This means that four other victims of the educator may be known.
Photos indicate significantly more victims
As the education department conceded, data carriers with image material were secured from the teacher, which indicates significantly more than 25 students affected by sexual abuse: “We know from the public prosecutor’s office that there are other photos that cannot be assigned to any person. The education department does not know these photos and does not know whether they were taken in the school context.”
The teacher had worked at the educational institution since the mid-1990s. After a complaint, his house was searched in 2019, and before he was questioned about the allegations, he committed suicide. The fact that since 2004 he has been assaulting mostly underage boys and photographed or filmed the victims at or within the framework of the school has naturally still been a topic of conversation at the school. When asked how everyday school life was there, the education department said it was generally going well: “The media interest is difficult for the school, like camera teams in front of the school.” A school psychologist is “present every day” and is available to the students and staff if they need to talk.
Investigations discontinued
The public prosecutor’s office in Vienna has discontinued the investigation against the suspect after his suicide. There are currently no further lines of investigation open. As authority spokeswoman Nina Bussek explained, the prosecution has not yet become aware of any circumstances that could indicate that the school management or the school authorities had received information about the attacks and had not investigated them accordingly.
Help in the case of sexual abuse of minors, for example, under the link to the child protection center “Die Möwe”. www.die-moewe.at/kontakt or the Children and Youth Ombudsman Vienna kja.at.
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