Penzing kindergarten

Suspicion of abuse not substantiated: proceedings

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

The most recent allegations of abuse against a Viennese kindergarten teacher, who had already been investigated in 2022 and 2023, have also not been substantiated, according to the public prosecutor's office. A corresponding case has therefore been dropped.

The man and another employee of a kindergarten in Vienna-Penzing had already been criminally investigated once before in December 2023. In February 2024, statements made by a child - according to municipal department 11 "in a play situation with another child" - about suspected acts of abuse led to another criminal investigation being launched against one of the two kindergarten employees. The public prosecutor's office then examined a corresponding statement of facts from MA 11.

Proceedings discontinued "due to lack of evidence of guilt"
As has now become known, the proceedings were discontinued in April of this year "due to a lack of evidence", as explained by Nina Bussek, spokesperson for the authorities. No further investigations were pending, she said. The internal supervisory procedure by the Vienna Child and Youth Welfare Service has also been completed in the meantime, explained a spokesperson for MA 11. 

Nina Bussek, spokesperson for the Vienna public prosecutor's office(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER)

The employee affected by the most recent investigations and the employee affected by the proceedings discontinued in December are no longer working in children's services, the MA 10 said in response to an APA inquiry. No further details were provided with reference to data protection.  

Criticism of crisis management
The case surrounding the Penzing kindergarten first caused a stir in May 2022. In the course of the case, the management of the municipal kindergartens (MA 10) was also replaced - also due to dissatisfaction on the part of the responsible city councillor Christoph Wiederkehr with the crisis management surrounding the suspected case.