Allegations of Abuse Against SOS Children's Villages: Griss Leads Investigation Commission

This was announced by Supervisory Board member Willibald Cernko and Managing Director Annemarie Schlack in an interview with APA. They also admitted to mistakes. "An internal evaluation is no longer sufficient in this situation," Cernko said on Monday.

Ultimately, "we failed to provide the children with the home and security we promised," said Cernko. It is not enough to only look at the two affected locations. "We have clearly understood the message: We need support from the most competent side," said Cernko. "We really want to set a new starting point to make the organization fit for the future." Building on the existing child protection policy, they want to "present recommendations for a profound renewal," added Schlack.

Allegations of Abuse Against SOS Children's Villages: Supervisory Board Advocates for "Comprehensive Clarification"

For this purpose, the six-member investigation commission, chaired by former Supreme Court President and ex-NEOS Member of Parliament Irmgard Griss, is to begin its work. In addition to Griss, the commission includes Hedwig Wölfl, Managing Director of the child protection organization "möwe," sociologist and social worker Veronika Reidinger from the Ilse Arlt Institute for Social Inclusion Research at FH St. Pölten, as well as three members of the Supervisory Board. The goal is a "comprehensive review and a reform plan," said Cernko, who will also be part of the committee. They want to start as soon as possible and hope that the "first constitutive meeting" of the committee will take place this week.

He personally guarantees transparency, said Cernko. If access to information is made difficult for external members, "then someone has failed, and that would be me," he explained. His self-declared goal is to have "initial project reports on the table" in a few months. He rules out any bias among the Supervisory Board members. "We have deliberately placed the emphasis on external experts," said Cernko. The work of the commission will be publicly accessible.

Further Suspected Cases "Not Ruled Out"

Of course, due to the reporting of the past few days, protégés from other children's villages could also come forward with possible allegations. "That is not ruled out," said Schlack. "Then we will have to face this situation," added Cernko. The two studies that brought the abuse cases to light have now been forwarded to the child and youth welfare services in Tyrol and Carinthia.

Following a report by the weekly newspaper "Falter" more than a week ago regarding possible abuse at the SOS Children's Village in Moosburg, Carinthia, the Klagenfurt public prosecutor's office stated that they would "obtain" the study. "The allegations beyond those in the old proceedings (according to media reports or according to the study) are being examined by the Klagenfurt public prosecutor's office in a new procedure," said spokesman Erich Leitner of the higher public prosecutor's office in Graz to the APA on Monday. The procedure is subject to reporting requirements, it was said. The Innsbruck public prosecutor's office is also examining a possible initial suspicion.

According to the "Falter" report, children and adolescents were allegedly mistreated, locked up, and photographed naked over the years. The information from the weekly newspaper comes from a study that SOS Children's Village itself commissioned but never made public. The allegations in Carinthia relate to the period from 2008 to 2020. In Tyrol, there were reportedly five cases of abuse between 2017 and 2020, as recently reported by the "Tiroler Tageszeitung".

(The conversation was conducted by Nikolaus Pichler/APA)

(APA/Red)

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