Mother accuses

Primary school pupil filmed in toilet with wildlife camera

Serious allegations against an elementary school in the Wels-Land district (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/CIAVAFURLAN.COM)

The accusation is serious: a wildlife camera was allegedly installed in the boys' toilet of an elementary school in the district of Wels-Land. Pupils discovered the device and handed it over to the principal, who called in the local authority. The camera is said to have been installed by the school caretaker due to repeated acts of vandalism.

There is a huge uproar in a community in the district of Wels-Land: a wildlife camera is said to have been installed in the boys' toilet at the local elementary school, which - according to the allegations - would have recorded the corridor area of the toilet. A concerned mother wrote anonymously to the "OÖ-Krone" newspaper and got the ball rolling on the case.

Pupil noticed blinking
The whole thing came to light around three weeks ago when pupils from the adjacent secondary school noticed a flashing light when going to the toilet and discovered the camera by chance. The children then dismantled the device and handed it over to the principal, but nothing happened at first.

The children were targeted with a wildlife camera (symbolic image).

School says nothing about the allegations
It was only when the boys reported the incident at home that a mother raised the alarm and confronted the principal with the allegations. However, she is said to have only said that the problem had already been solved and did not want to comment on the allegations when asked by "Krone".

Short-circuited action by the school caretaker
The mayor responsible spoke of a "short-circuit action" by the school caretaker: "The toilets were repeatedly smeared with excrement and blocked, the urinals were blocked and then allowed to overflow. The doors were also locked so that the younger children couldn't go to the toilet and almost wet their pants," he says.

I gave the school caretaker a warning. He's a reliable and hard-working employee who simply lost his temper. We are helpless when it comes to acts of vandalism.

Bürgermeister der betroffenen Gemeinde

We have filed a complaint
"Neither the principal nor I knew about the camera. The school caretaker simply lost it and resorted to the wrong means. He apologized for it," said the mayor. After the cameras were found, the school management informed the municipality, which called in the police and filed a complaint. The public prosecutor's office in Wels also investigated and was entrusted with evaluating the camera.

Not a criminal offense
"We secured and viewed a memory card, on which 4.5 hours of footage had been recorded," said public prosecutor Silke Enzlmüller. It was also established that the recording was made solely to clarify the acts of vandalism, which is why there was no investigation into data protection violations. "There is no suspicion of a criminal offense, the public prosecutor's office is refraining from opening an investigation," explains Enzlmüller.

"Appeal to children's common sense"
Director of Education Alfred Klampfer has also spoken out about the case: "The well-being and safety of the pupils has top priority. Video recordings are of course prohibited on school grounds." Due to the repeated defilements at the school site, he recommends "seeking a conversation with the pupils and appealing to their common sense".