Trial in Feldkirch

Child abuser sentenced to prison again

The offender must first undergo inpatient therapy.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall/Krone KREATIV)

Barely released from prison, the 63-year-old pensioner abused two seven-year-old boys on a forest playground in Nüziders. On Wednesday, the Oberländer man with a criminal record had to answer to the jury in Feldkirch.

The paedophile had already molested a child once before. However, he only had to serve part of the 18-month prison sentence imposed at the time. The rest was suspended. But barely two months after his early release, he committed the next crime and abused two seven-year-olds in Nüziders.

Exact description led to the perpetrator
It was May 10 when the accused became aware of the laughing children. "Do you want to play an exploratory game with me?" the 63-year-old asks at first. At the time, the pupils had no idea that the grandpa was actually a disgusting sex offender. "The accused pulled down their pants and first performed masturbation movements on the children. He then asked them to satisfy each other," explained public prosecutor Julia Berchtold in her opening statement. The man then flees, but can be arrested at home a short time later based on the exact description of the victims.

He sits like a poor sinner in front of Judge Silke Wurzinger during the trial and cries. "Yes, I admit everything. I am so sorry. But I'm ill and need help. Please help me so that I can maybe lead a normal life one day," pleads the repeat offender. In his psychiatric report, Reinhard Haller attests that the accused has a core pedophilia. Haller emphasizes the dangerousness of the man and demands that the accused be placed in a forensic therapeutic center.

Reinhard Haller prepared the psychiatric report.

(Bild: APA/JOCHEN HOFER)

 After brief deliberation by the senate, the presiding judge found the pensioner guilty of serious sexual abuse of minors and imposed an unconditional prison sentence of two and a half years. She also revoked the conditional suspended sentence from the earlier conviction. She awards one of the victims 2,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering. Then it will be decided when they have to serve the rest of their sentence in Feldkirch prison," explains the woman counselor to the convicted man. The sex offender accepts the sentence.