93 charges in Vienna

14-year-old girl sent to prison after violent outbursts

The sadistic attack on a teenager took place in a special crisis center (symbolic image).

(Bild: YAHOES - stock.adobe.com)

A girl in Vienna became the victim of a crime after a sadistic outburst of violence. In the room of a crisis center, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old attacked a teenager - robbing, beating and humiliating her. Others present do not intervene for a long time. They prefer to film and play loud music ...

The perpetrator, who only recently reached the age of criminal responsibility, is anything but a blank slate: before she turned 14, she had already been charged with 93 (!) crimes.

Already 93 charges before reaching the age of criminal responsibility
This is why there is a sense of helplessness in courtroom 13 of the Vienna Provincial Court on Thursday. How should a violent 14-year-old girl be looked after in the future who had an unimaginable 93 charges (!) for various offenses before she reached the age of criminal responsibility and had spent the last few months in custody, including for an unbelievable crime on 12 January 2024, just a few days after her 14th birthday?

No school attendance for two years
Julia (name changed) has been living with a stranger in Vienna since she was ten. Drugs came into play when she was twelve, which is why she was taken to a special crisis center for children and young people. She didn't accept the structures there, didn't go to school for two years and was often absent.

My friend was stressed because she was jealous and started hitting her. Then I hit her.

Die Angeklagte

Julia met up with several other young people, some of whom were underage, in the shared room on January 12: "to chill out", as she told the judge in her trial. How the sadistic outburst of violence against one of the girls came about cannot be fully reconstructed, even during the trial. "My girlfriend was stressed because she was jealous and started hitting her," the defendant describes, "Then I hit her." - First with a can of deodorant spray, then with a chair and kicks to the face. The brutal friends took the girl's cell phone, AirPods and a sweater. This is captured on video because one of the boys present filmed it on his cell phone instead of intervening. These are disturbing scenes.

Abuse captured on video
"I said to her: take your clothes off and apologize," says the tall 14-year-old, who looks much older than she is. Then the aggression escalated while loud music played in the background. "My hand is now broken because of your fucking face," one of the attackers can be heard shouting. Before they forced the whimpering girl to strip naked and kneel on the floor. The sadistic outburst of violence escalated in a humiliating manner before the boys finally intervened.

The picture that emerges from the trial is one of hopelessness. A minor witness reported that threats of death and physical violence were apparently the order of the day among the young people in the care of others: "We fought or argued every week. Over make-up, clothes and so on. Every day, actually. All the time." 

The consternation at the trial in Vienna's regional court was great.

(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

Driving without authorization four times
The violent outbursts are one thing. But Julia is also accused of driving an unlocked car on January 18. And drove it across the Gürtel, even though she says she doesn't even know how to brake. "Imagine someone running into the street. What would you have done?" Judge Alexandra Skrdla asks the teenager: "I would turn," is the answer. And what if someone was killed? "Then I would be afraid that I would go to prison." She is said to have driven a total of four times before she was arrested. 

Julia has now been in custody for a good five months. Also because she had threatened others with death. The time in custody has changed her, she assures us. But where will she go when she is released? "We haven't found a place for her to live," reports her defense lawyer. The only option would be to place her in an expensive single flat share, where the 14-year-old would be provided with an apartment in which several social workers would take turns to provide round-the-clock care for the girl - with no funding.

The video really speaks volumes. I haven't seen such a gruesome video for a long time.

Richterin Alexandra Skrdla nach der Urteilsverkündung.

Unfavorable danger prognosis
"I have rarely seen such a risk assessment," says Skrdla, referring to the psychiatric expert's report. During the trial, expert witness Wachter reported on her father's experience of violence, the unacceptable placement in an out-of-home care facility, multiple drug use and a bullying experience in Julia's young life. 

"The video really speaks volumes. I haven't seen such a gruesome video for a long time," says Ms. Rat after she pronounces the sentence of one year in prison, four months of which must be spent in a forensic therapy center. The girl is committed.