Kindergarten scandal

Expert opinion on Penzing case only came after a year

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

Investigations are continuing into the possible abuse scandal at a Viennese kindergarten in Penzing. The contents of an expert report on one of the four suspected cases have now become known. In it, the statements of a possible victim (3) were classified as insufficient for a conviction. The expert opinion itself was only received by the public prosecutor's office after more than a year ...

A teacher at a municipal kindergarten in the 14th district is reported to have sexually abused several children. The public prosecutor is investigating four cases. Parents were only informed of the suspicions more than a year later, the suspect was removed and transferred internally.

"Kindergarten teacher never alone with the child"
The expert report leaked to ORF radio also came to the conclusion that the statements of an almost three-year-old girl, who was initially the subject of the investigation, would not lead to a conviction. In addition, female colleagues are likely to have protected the suspect. As far as the allegation of sexual assault during nappy-changing, among other things, is concerned: "The nursery school teacher was never alone with the child and there was no nappy-changing situation."

The kindergarten teacher was never alone with the child and there was no nappy-changing situation.

Aus dem Gutachten zum ersten der vier Verdachtsfälle

Expert opinion only received after more than a year
The assessment of the Youth Welfare Office states: "Based on the witness interviews with the MA 11 Youth Welfare Office and the resulting facts, the authority can virtually rule out the allegations." However, the report also reveals that the expert had already spoken to the girl in April of the previous year.

However, this expert opinion was only recently delivered to the public prosecutor's office - over a year later! According to Ö1, there is now another expert opinion on the case, the content of which is not yet known.

Another teacher in the investigators' sights
In Vienna, another teacher from the same municipal kindergarten in Penzing, where cases of abuse are alleged to have occurred, has now been charged. He is accused of "pedagogical misconduct", as the responsible city councillor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) reported on Tuesday. The suspect is being investigated with a view to depriving him of his liberty, as Nina Bussek, spokesperson for the Vienna public prosecutor's office, explained on Tuesday. As a consequence, the head of the Viennese kindergarten has now been dismissed. Further suspected cases have come to light in Liesing.

"Complete incompetence on the part of authorities and politicians"
A parents' representative criticized Wiederkehr on "Ö1 Mittagsjournal". Contrary to his account, the parents were not "caught and supported" after the allegations became known. A parents' evening had unsettled them and raised "many more questions". She spoke of the "complete incompetence of the authorities and politicians". Regarding an incident that became known a few days ago - a second kindergarten teacher working at the same location is said to have punitively locked children in the toilet - the parents' representative claimed that notes with "very confusing, scary" information had been distributed at the facility, whereas Wiederkehr informed the media in more detail at a press conference shortly afterwards.