Twelve-Year-Old Allegedly Raped: Acquittal for Classmate in Vienna

The two attended the same school. At the core of the indictment - the alleged rape - the 16-year-old was acquitted. He was only found guilty of extortion in connection with dangerous threats. For this, he received a six-month suspended sentence. The verdict is not final, and the prosecution did not make a statement.

Acquittal of other charges in trial over alleged rape

A three-year probation period, probation assistance, and psychotherapy were ordered. The sentencing range is 30 months - mitigating factors included the defendant's clean record and the fact that it remained an attempted extortion. The members of the jury took almost an hour to reach the verdict. They thoroughly analyzed the victim's statement. Some aspects were difficult to comprehend and could not be reconciled with the statements of a witness and the defendant, the presiding judge explained in the verdict's reasoning. Overall, there were too many contradictions, which is why the defendant was acquitted of the rape charge. Large parts of the trial - including the questioning of a witness and the playing of a video - took place behind closed doors. The origin of the twelve-year-old's injuries also could not be clarified. The defendant was accused of having beaten and severely injured the girl. The victim suffered an acoustic trauma, which, according to a medical report, resulted in a permanent ten percent reduction in the hearing ability of her left ear. Here too, the 16-year-old was acquitted.

Prosecution saw "terrorizing of a child"

In her opening statement before the jury, the prosecutor spoke of the "terrorizing of a child." It started with "schoolyard bullying," with the defendant initially demanding small amounts of money from the twelve-year-old student and returning the debts. But this escalated to "really serious crimes": The now 16-year-old demanded more money, threatened the victim with violence, and also physically attacked and severely injured the girl. The sexual assault allegedly occurred when the boy grabbed the girl waiting at a bus stop and dragged her to a restroom facility. There, the then 15-year-old allegedly forced the girl to perform sexual acts with violence. Under the pretense that he had filmed the scene, he allegedly later tried to coerce the student into tolerating further sexual acts or paying 100 euros. However, the minor confided in her mother, who subsequently reported the matter.

Defendant schoolmate largely not confessing

The defense painted a different picture. "My client is certainly not a good person," said the boy's defense attorney. He pleads guilty to extortion, but there is disagreement about the amount of damage. The rape - which, due to the young age of the victim, is also incriminated as sexual abuse of minors - was denied by the accused. The defense attorney emphasized that the victim was not sure whether the alleged sexual acts were supposed to have taken place on a Sunday or Monday.

During the questioning of the accused by the presiding judge, the slight 16-year-old repeatedly got caught up in contradictions. At first, he claimed to have demanded a total of 20 euros from the victim via Snapchat, later it was 40 euros - which he claimed to have returned repeatedly. Then he spoke of blackmailing the girl with a video that allegedly showed her vaping. The victim had posted the video herself on TikTok. Much later, the teenager spoke of a second video that "friends sent" him. This video also allegedly showed the twelve-year-old smoking.

A few weeks later, the accused claimed to have blocked the victim on Snapchat. She allegedly offered him money to beat up other students - this "deal" was something the twelve-year-old had already made with others. The teenager declined. In a message, the girl allegedly also asked him if they wanted to be a couple, "I find you very beautiful," she supposedly wrote to him. He "left it on read" but did not respond. A few days later, he supposedly blocked the girl at the urging of his girlfriend. After that, the victim allegedly offered him money again on her own. When asked why she would do that after being blocked, he replied: "No idea. She just loved me."

Grandma allegedly deleted Snapchat

A few weeks later, according to the 16-year-old, the blackmail with the video took place. The evidence spoke against the accused, said the judge, after showing screenshots of Snapchat conversations between the accused and the victim during the trial. These mentioned sexual acts and money that the victim was supposed to pay to have a video deleted. "That's not my account," claimed the teenager. The presiding judge pointed out that the screenshots were found on his phone by an expert. When asked why the Snapchat app was deleted before his phone was examined, the 16-year-old said: "No idea, maybe my grandma deleted it."

(APA/Red)

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