12 years in prison

Granddaughter abused: 70-year-old man sentenced

A 70-year-old man confessed to "transgressions" at the Klagenfurt Regional Court by wanting to show his granddaughter how sexual practices work.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

On Tuesday, a 70-year-old German man was sentenced to twelve years in prison at Klagenfurt Regional Court for allegedly sexually abusing his granddaughter. The man was also accused of regularly beating both the girl and his two grandsons. The verdict was not final for the time being.

The blameless 70-year-old partially admitted to the accusations, but then repeatedly rowed back and weakened his statements. He admitted to having beaten some of the children, but emphasized that he was not a perpetrator of violence. The children had grown up with him in Carinthia and the mother of the children - the defendant's daughter - had taken care of her career in the meantime.

As far as the abuse allegations were concerned, the accused also made outlandish statements, such as that he wanted to "educate" his granddaughter - but then explained that the assaults had not been as bad as the twelve-year-old girl had said at the beginning of the crimes. He suspected that his granddaughter might have been influenced. The girl suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, it was explained in court.

Girl suffered severe psychological damage
After a brief deliberation, the panel of lay judges chaired by Judge Gernot Kugi finally found the man guilty of serious sexual abuse of minors, defilement of blood, abuse of a relationship of authority and continued use of violence. The girl had suffered severe damage: "Apart from the sexual abuse by you, we have no other explanation for the post-traumatic stress disorder", explained Kugi, the sentence range was five to 15 years in prison.

Incidents are said to have dragged on for years
The verdict was based on the results of the investigation and not least on the girl's statements: "She made a credible impression and described the incidents in detail, which had been going on for years," said Kugi. There was no doubt at all that the accused had also beaten his grandchildren, which had also been made clear by the testimony of one of his grandsons. Ultimately, the granddaughter in particular had no motive to falsely accuse her grandfather. And: "We saw your preference for young girls on TikTok, where you watched videos of scantily clad girls," said the judge.

The 70-year-old filed an appeal for annulment and an appeal, public prosecutor Karin Schweiger made no statement.