OLG decides

Dog crate case: perpetrators want reduced sentence

The mother who almost tortured her then 12-year-old son to death in the Waldviertel region is now seeking a reduced sentence. The 33-year-old and her accomplice received 20 and 14 years' imprisonment respectively in the attempted murder trial in Krems (Lower Austria) last year. Their appeal was rejected in the short trial. 

The case from the Waldviertel region shocked the entire country: a 33-year-old had beaten, bound and gagged her son from at least July to November 2022 and repeatedly locked him in a dog crate for hours. She also starved the child. At the beginning of March 2023, the handcuffs clicked for her 40-year-old accomplice. She is said to have given detailed instructions on how to abuse the child. 

The trial against the two women took place at the end of February 2024. The mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted murder, torturing or neglecting minors, young or defenceless persons and deprivation of liberty. Her accomplice received 14 years. Both women appealed, which will be heard on Thursday at the Vienna Higher Regional Court.

Victim first received 500 euros from the perpetrators
At 9:30 a.m., the women, who are serving their sentences in Asten, are brought before the court. Their gazes are steely. "My client is trying to make amends," says Astrid Wagner, the lawyer Astrid Wagner. However, the woman has only been able to transfer 500 euros since her conviction. The woman who instructed her, herself a mother of four, has not yet transferred a single euro to the victim. 

The convicted mother at the Palace of Justice in Vienna on Thursday.(Bild: Anja Richter)

Wagner explained to the appeal panel why the horror mother was fighting for a lighter sentence: "She is a helpless personality. The terrible acts were only possible in this combination. She couldn't have done it on her own," says the lawyer, who also refers to her client's integrity.

Daniel Strauss, the accomplice's new lawyer, considers his client's grounds for mitigation to be "considerably more prevalent". Also because the 40-year-old would never have laid a hand on the victim herself.

The trial proceeds quickly; after just 25 minutes, the appeal panel chaired by Judge Natalia Frohner retires to deliberate. Just a few minutes later, it is clear that the two women's appeal has been rejected. It was an act "that shocked many people", said the judge. "Through its cruelty, its continuation over a long period of time and the way it was committed." - The emaciated and hypothermic boy had a body temperature of 26.8 degrees when he was finally admitted to hospital.

The terrible deeds were only possible in this combination. She could not have done it on her own.

Astrid Wagner verteidigt die Mutter.

Investigations into two social workers are still ongoing
The case is not yet closed, even apart from the appeal hearing. The Krems public prosecutor's office is still investigating two employees of the Waidhofen a. d. Thaya district authority. There is suspicion of abuse of authority.