Crime scene Traiskirchen

Abuse in the outdoor pool: the accused were police officers

The two defendants in Wiener Neustadt Regional Court on Thursday.

(Bild: Anja Richter, Krone KREATIV)

The accused - aged 29 and 30 - cover their faces with folders as they are brought before the Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria) Regional Court at 9 a.m. on Thursday. At the "Aqua Splash" outdoor pool in Traiskirchen in June, they allegedly groped the private parts of a total of six young bathers aged between nine and 13 in the underwater whirlpool. 

"I have two children aged six and eight," says the first accused Afghan, who also surprises with his former profession: "I was a policeman," he states. Like the second defendant, he pleads "guilty" to the shocking allegations of the crime on June 18, 2024 in the "Aqua Splash" outdoor pool in Traiskirchen (Lower Austria). He was drunk for the first time in his life on that day. "I swear that I didn't do it on purpose. I know I made a mistake. I have children of my own and I regret it very much." He could no longer remember the incident because he was so drunk.

Crime scene whirlpool in the outdoor pool in Traiskirchen (Lower Austria).

(Bild: Reinhard Judt/Krone KREATIV)

The accused motivated each other
The duo allegedly ambushed children swimming in the current channel on that summer day. They are said to have submerged themselves in the whirlpool and reached for their victims underwater and tried to touch them in their private parts - which they partly succeeded in doing. The public prosecutor specified: "They grabbed the vagina, pinched the penis of one victim and intensively groped the vagina and breasts of another." The children's buttocks were also the target of several attacks. According to the public prosecutor, the two asylum seekers are said to have motivated each other to commit the acts.

The two defendants in the Wiener Neustadt regional court on Thursday

(Bild: Anja Richter, Krone KREATIV)

1.1 per mille alcohol in the blood
"My client is still afraid to go out alone," reports a victim's representative in the trial for multiple sexual abuse of minors. A witness reports that, apart from the two defendants, only children were allegedly in the spa at the time of the crime. The accused allegedly held their noses with one hand as they went underwater and "patted down some children" with the other. A small child was also "pulled down".  

According to the judge, the 30-year-old first defendant had 1.1 per mille alcohol in his blood when he was arrested. "That's enough for disinhibition. But that's a far cry from no longer knowing what you're doing," said Mr. Rat, criticizing the man for trying to blame everything on the alcohol.

Lawyer Florian Höllwarth represents two of the underage victims.

(Bild: Anja Richter)

Only moved into the camp shortly before the crime
"I was worried about my daughter. She can't speak well, has problems with her vocal chords", the "policeman" now claimed. The child, who lives with her grandmother, was about to have an operation. "I was scared, so I was prescribed tablets in the camp," says the widower, who had lost his wife to cancer. The 30-year-old had only arrived at the refugee camp in Traiskirchen a few days before the attacks. A witness could not recognize any sadness in the men: "They laughed together."

Second defendant is a non-swimmer
The second defendant also testified that he could no longer remember the "bathing day" due to alcoholization. They had consumed a bottle of vodka. The judge does not accept this: "You say you remember going to the baths. And then you only remember that you were arrested. That contradicts your previous statements." But the 29-year-old sticks to his guns and adds: "I would like to apologize. A normal person doesn't do things like that." He is a non-swimmer. This is another reason why it was "absolutely not wise to go into the whirlpool". Victims' lawyer Florian Höllwarth in his closing statement: "The children's statements were clear."

The judgments of the jury senate are expected around 2 pm.