Allegations of Abuse in SOS Children's Village: Former Employee in Vienna Court

The man was sentenced in the first instance to two and a half years in prison for sexual abuse of minors. However, he appealed the verdict. The "Kronen Zeitung" was the first to report on this on Thursday.

Ex-Employee of Vienna Facility Faces Trial

According to the newspaper's report, he allegedly severely abused a boy in 14 attacks during his work in 2021 and 2022. He is also said to have performed sexual acts on a twelve-year-old resident of the facility - twice when the boy was awake and once when he was asleep. In the residential group, the social educator was even the primary caregiver of his victim, reported the "Kronen Zeitung".

The family spokesperson for the Vienna ÖVP, Sabine Keri, demanded on Thursday that the SPÖ-Neos city government immediately establish an independent commission to which affected individuals could turn and receive support. "There needs to be a central, trustworthy point of contact for potential victims. Only in this way can it be ensured that no one is left alone," Keri explained.

The Vienna children's and youth advocate Sebastian Öhner advocated in the evening for the introduction of external trusted persons. In a conversation with ORF's "Wien Heute," Öhner said: "It is important that children and young people have an external trusted person." This should be able to make a difference in case of need. "It is a mix of control and amplifying the voices of children and young people." He pointed out that there is currently no legal basis for such external trusted persons. "A standardized regulation could really be established here."

(APA/Red)

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