Sex with a minor
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The 24-year-old Viennese Marc D. has been in a US prison since April: he is accused of having sex with a minor and kidnapping. The suspect is now on trial in Florida. Meanwhile, his mother continues to fight for his release.
The son of the 51-year-old delicatessen employee has been in a Florida prison for months. The charges are serious. He is alleged to have abused and even kidnapped a 15-year-old girl. Confusing accusations, at least for the family and friends of the introverted IT technician. The 24-year-old has now been charged - in the worst case scenario, the Viennese could face up to 30 years in prison.
Verena D. fights for her son
The unbelievable story: "Marc met and fell in love with the girl while playing an online computer game. They wrote messages to each other for months and she made him believe that she was already 19 years old. And then he just followed his heart and wanted to meet the love of his life in Orlando. Yes, they also had sex. But no, he certainly didn't kidnap or abuse her. He didn't even know that she was still underage. He's not like that at all," the mother of the imprisoned Viennese in Florida told the "Krone" back in June.
The explosive case brings back memories of an Upper Austrian almost six years ago, with striking parallels. The then 18-year-old also wore orange convict clothing in Florida after a night of love with a 15-year-old girl who faked her 19-year-old status with a forged birth certificate. The teenager was eventually released after a thriller involving a legal tug-of-war.
Bail in the amount of 160,000 euros
Marc's mother Verena D., for whom the accusations of the US public prosecutor's office are still incomprehensible, was also hoping for this. After his arrest in April - on the very second day of his trip and after his first fatal night of love in the hotel - her son has been in custody in the notorious Brevard County Jail and has been awaiting trial ever since. At the first hearing, incidentally without a public defender (!), bail was set at 160,000 euros, the same as for a serious criminal.
A sum that his family in Austria could not afford. All their money goes towards Marc's survival in prison: "He freezes at night and is fed poor quality prison food. We had to order him a grossly overpriced long-sleeved shirt and healthy food. That costs us hundreds of euros a month. I've taken on a second job and we sell all our belongings," D. described the financial plight to the "Krone" newspaper in June.
Marc met the girl on an online computer game and fell in love with her. They wrote messages to each other for months and she made him believe that she was already 19 years old.
Marcs Mutter Verena D.
In custody since April
After the initial shock, Marc's family naturally turned to the local authorities. That is why a local lawyer is representing him for the time being at the minimum rate at the behest of the red-white-red government. Furthermore, the Austrian embassy is in constant e-mail contact with the 24-year-old. "Since the arrest became known, the embassy in Washington and the honorary consulate in Orlando have been in contact with the citizen, his relatives and the local authorities. The person concerned is doing well under the circumstances. We are continuing our efforts to provide him with the best possible care," confirmed a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in a detailed statement.
Whether Verena D.'s son Marc will ever be allowed to feel a breath of freedom again is still very much up in the air. His sentence in the US state is 30 years imprisonment, which in a US prison probably means the highest risk of death. Especially with this terrible accusation of being a child molester. It is still unclear when the trial will take place. "No court date set yet," says the website of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, a county with 500,000 inhabitants on the east coast of Florida.
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