Shocking act

Teacher’s martyrdom only uncovered by fire

The young woman had suffered constant blackmail and assaults for almost a year.

(Bild: SIAM PUKKATO)

The judicial file on the shocking abuse case of a 29-year-old teacher is over 1,300 pages long. After a brief affair with an ex-pupil (17) - the "Krone" reported - his friends blackmailed the young Viennese woman and even raped her under the influence of drugs. Instead of going to the police, the victim went to therapy. But her ordeal did not end until her apartment burned down.

Love affairs between teachers and pupils - a rarity in Austria, but never a particularly good idea. This was also the case in the recent case of a Viennese teacher: her former protégé and six of his friends blackmailed and abused her for almost a year.

17-year-old made advances to teacher
The leverage: At the beginning of 2024, the young woman and the then 17-year-old entered into an affair. "He tagged me on Instagram in January," the 29-year-old told the police. They only had contact via social media for four months. "He wrote that he had always liked me a lot." She tutored him in a minor subject for a year.

When I woke up, I totally regretted it. I was afraid it would come out and I'd lose my good reputation at school.

29-jährige Lehrerin über Sex mit ehemaligem Schüler

"I went out with a friend in April and got very drunk," she begins her account of a night with serious consequences. That was the first time she had sex with her former pupil. "When I woke up, I totally regretted it. I was afraid that it would come out and I would lose my good reputation at school." Afterwards, the 29-year-old would have continued seeing him because she was afraid he would tell others.

"Tutoring in bed" demanded
What may have happened: He had bragged about his "conquest" to his friends - who also attended the teacher's school in Vienna-Liesing. The young woman received three or four requests via Instagram. "They were messages asking if I could give 'tutoring'." But the boys didn't mean that in the conventional sense. "One of them wrote that I used to teach him and should now teach him in bed."

Pregnancy test surprisingly positive
The ordeal finally began last July: her ex-lover came to her apartment with three friends and asked her to take a pregnancy test - which came back unexpectedly positive. She then took a tablet of Exctasy with the boys. "I was extremely scared of the boys that day, even though they hadn't threatened me yet." But it wasn't to stay that way. 

Lawyer Wolfgang Haas defends a teenager in the shocking case.

(Bild: Andreas Schiel)

The demands went from the absurd to the cruel: they forced the teacher to let them hang out and live in her apartment. They forced her to order them food from McDonald's and a pizzeria in Ottakring. Almost harmless compared to what was to follow. 

Desperate act after rape
The boys eventually forced the young woman to take drugs. She told the police that they had once secretly mixed pills into her drink - and there was also footage of this. The spiral of blackmail took its course. The teacher was allegedly raped several times over several hours by three of the accused in August. Then the 29-year-old couldn't take it anymore and tried to take her own life ...

I said at the time that I didn't want to report what had happened because I thought that I would stand alone against so many boys and then I wouldn't be believed.

Junge Wienerin in ihrer Opferaussage

The teacher then went into therapy. She did not alert the police. "I said at the time that I didn't want to report what had happened because I thought that I was standing alone against so many boys and that I wouldn't be believed."

And just when the young woman was feeling a little better again, everything would have started all over again at the end of 2024. The boys had once again demanded money and there had been another sexual assault. Then, on 16 January, a final scandal: the 29-year-old was visiting her sister in Stockholm. Her former pupils had gained access to her apartment - she returned to a completely burnt-out home. And to a summons from the police, where she finally came clean.

1300-page file gets even thicker
Five of the six boys aged between 14 and 17, mainly of southern origin, have since been remanded in custody and most of them have refused to testify. However, the investigation is still in its infancy. The file, which already has over 1,300 pages, will therefore become even thicker - the psychiatric reports on the young people, which are now pending, could be particularly interesting ...