Rape Allegation: Teenager in Vienna Acquitted with Finality
The young woman had reported the boy to a police station on February 19, 2024, claiming that he had forced her to tolerate intercourse with violence at the beginning of 2023. The accused was 14 years old at that time.
During the evidence proceedings, "serious doubts arose that a rape had taken place," explained the chairwoman of a jury panel in justifying the court's decision. She referred to the young woman's statements as "incomprehensible" and "contradictory," which "did not fit together." "In case of doubt, one must follow his statements," the judge declared.
The now 18-year-old initially testified to the police and was later questioned again contradictorily during the investigation. The video recording made during this was played and discussed in the courtroom, excluding the public. Regarding the allegedly sustained injuries, the location of her mobile phone, a condom, and the end of the sexual intercourse, she apparently made very different statements. The judge literally described these as "striking" in the justification of the acquittal.
Prosecutor in Vienna accepted acquittal
The prosecutor agreed with this. She waived the right to appeal in the courtroom.
The 16-year-old reported consensual sex during his interrogation. After sex education class, he had messaged the older girl, whom he only knew through social media, and asked for intercourse. She had agreed. During a free period, she then came to him. He picked her up from a tram station, went with her to the table tennis room in the basement, "and that's when it happened. I asked her several times if she really wanted to. She said yes every time."
When asked by the judge why he did not approach someone close to him for his so-called first time, the 16-year-old replied: "I didn't want my first sex to be with someone from my circle of friends to avoid complications." The older girl had texted him more often after sex. He did not respond: "I only replied to my parents and my closest circle of friends. And I had a girlfriend."
Report temporarily ended the defendant's school career in Vienna
The report had at least temporarily ended the boy's school career. He was suspended from his school - a higher educational institution. As a kind of interim solution or emergency measure, he completed the polytechnic school. Since then, he has been looking for a job or an apprenticeship.
The criminal investigations were initiated after rumors circulated at the school in question that the boy had sexually harassed a classmate of the same age by initially sending her suggestive chat messages and then inappropriately touching her on the buttocks or thigh. Subsequently, the alleged rape victim turned to the younger girl, and both went to the police and accused the teenager.
The 16-year-old was also acquitted of the alleged harassment of the peer, which was included in the charges. "That didn't happen," was his defense. The 16-year-old, who testified as a witness directly in the trial, could no longer remember an inappropriate touch on the buttocks. Her classmate had once grabbed her thigh during class, she reported: "It was intentional on his part, but only briefly." When she reprimanded him, he immediately stopped.
For the court, this did not constitute sexual harassment. "In doubt, your behavior was not aimed at violating her dignity," said the judge. However, she attested the 16-year-old "a problematic view of women" and appealed to him and the boy's parents present in the audience to "work on it."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.