Police in Austria investigate 17 people on suspicion of sexually abusing 12-year-old girl [Video]

(1 Mar 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vienna, Austria – 1 March 2024
1. Wide of news conference
2. Police spokesperson being interviewed
3. Close of hands
4. SOUNDBITE (German) Florian Finda, deputy head of Criminal Investigation Department:
“We are investigating 17 suspects – two of them are still unidentified at this point, two others are minors. We were able to arrest and immediately question 13 of them. We suspect that between February and June 2023, there were several incidents, during which a severe sexual abuse of an underage girl is alleged to have taken place. In addition to that, we also have the pornographic depiction of minors.”
5. Mid of news conference
6. Close of camera operator
7. SOUNDBITE (German) Florian Finda, deputy head of Criminal Investigation Department:
“The 17 suspects include Syrian citizens, Austrian citizens, we have Turkish citizens, one Italian, a Bulgarian and one Serbian citizen.”
8. News conference
9. SOUNDBITE (German) Manuel Leitner, main officer in charge of the case:
“She was asked again and again until the victim felt so pressured that she didn’t see a way out anymore and relented to have sexual intercourse with the suspects. As mentioned already by Major Finda, this is still a punishable crime because the victim is a 12-year-old girl.”
10. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE:
Austrian police said Friday they were investigating 17 people, most of them minors, on suspicion of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl over several months.

Twelve of the suspects were said to be between the ages of 14 and 18, one was 19, and two were below the age of criminal responsibility, which is 14 in Austria.

They included Austrian, Turkish, Syrian, Italian, Bulgarian and Serbian nationals, according to Florian Finda, a senior official with Vienna’s state criminal police office.

The identities of two other suspects remained unknown, he added.

The suspects were suspected of serious sexual abuse of a minor and pornographic depiction of a minor, Finda said.

The offenses are alleged to have taken place between February and June 2023 in garages, at perpetrators’ apartments and other locations in Vienna.

In one case, force allegedly was used; in the rest, the victim was verbally pressured into sex, investigators said.

The victim and her mother reported the case to authorities in October.

Following extensive investigations, the 13 known suspects were questioned on Thursday, Finda said.

Some admitted to the allegations and others rejected them; one of them was arrested for resisting officers.

Investigators are still examining material on their cellphones.

AP video by Philipp Jenne

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