Beaten, threatened

Suspended sentence for brutal stepfather

The accused denied any guilt until the end.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

A 49-year-old man had repeatedly beaten and threatened his three underage stepchildren. He was sentenced to three months' probation and a 1000 euro fine at the Feldkirch Regional Court on Friday.

The adversarial interrogation of the victims at Feldkirch Regional Court took several hours. On Friday afternoon, the presiding judge of the jury senate, Theo Rümmele, found the 49-year-old defendant guilty of multiple counts of coercion and assault for repeatedly beating and coercing both his wife and their three underage children aged between six and 13. Among other things, the Senate considered it proven that the accused had grabbed one of the children by the neck, choked and slapped him in a fit of rage.

However, in addition to painful slaps and other abuse, the Senate also believed the victims' descriptions of the coercion in connection with an incident last December: At that time, the accused threatened the children with beatings and that he would kill their mother if they told her about the abuse. Conversely, he threatened the mother with the violent death of the children if she went to the police. The woman nevertheless pressed charges and the defendant was arrested.

"Serious alcohol problem"
Rümmele justified the verdict as follows: "The children testified very well for their age." And directly addressing the accused: "You certainly wanted the best for your family from time to time. But you have a serious alcohol problem."

Judge Theo Rümmele.(Bild: chantal dorn)

The 49-year-old perpetrator of violence had pleaded not guilty to the last and described the child's mother's accusations as "unfounded". However, he did admit to a certain severity in raising the children. In addition to the final sentence of three months' conditional imprisonment, a fine of 1,000 euros and a total of 550 euros in partial compensation to the victims, he was ordered to refrain from contact and banned from drinking alcohol for three years.