Court judgment: four years in prison for stepfather after sexual abuse

Court judgment: four years in prison for stepfather after sexual abuse

In a particularly sensitive case of sexual abuse, a 35-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison. According to the indictment, the accused sexually abused a nine -year -old between December 27th and February 13 of this year. These allegations meant that he has been in custody since March 20. Despite the extremely stressful situation and the high security precautions in the court meetings, the man was surprisingly optimistic and expressed a wish for release.

The defendant's defense tried to assert his innocence by claiming that the child would tell lies. However, this reasoning turned out to be little successful. After the first day of the trial, it was clear that many elements of the child's statements indicated a serious truth and the girl may have suffered trauma that could accompany her for a lifetime.

important knowledge from the report

A psychological report commissioned in the course of the procedure found that the nine -year -old has no serious post -traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If this had been the case, the accused would have had to expect a significantly harder punishment between five and fifteen years. Despite this positive news for the accused, the pressure on him was enormous because after an earlier confession before the prison and legal protection judge, he stubbornly denied his deeds.

The young girl's statements were considered absolutely credible by the judges, both in terms of the way they described the abuse and in the choice of words. The presiding judge Martin Bodner said that there was no evidence of exaggerations or simulations by the child. In contrast, the judge found that the defendant's explanations were "dissolved".

judgment and reactions

The result of the judgment consultation was an unconditional imprisonment of four years for the 35-year-old. Immediately after the verdict, the convict already announced the intention to appeal. The prosecutor Gudrun Bishop also appealed, but because of the amount of the punishment. Until a final decision, the legal situation for the accused could still change.

The way this case was treated not only shows the seriousness of such accusations, but also the challenges with which both victims and the legal system are confronted. For further information on this case and the judicial disputes, there are additional reports on www.noen.at .