After serious allegations against the SOS Children’s Village in Moosburg near Klagenfurt, the institution announced on Wednesday an “external evaluation of the processing procedures.” The Vienna weekly newspaper Falter had reported on Tuesday about serious accusations against the facility: children and adolescents were allegedly abused, locked up, and photographed naked over years, and the case was swept under the rug.
The allegations, which date back to 2008 to 2020, were documented in a study commissioned by SOS Children’s Village itself. However, the results have not yet been published. According to Falter, the study states that an educator had nude photos of children on his private laptop. A Children’s Village “mother” allegedly locked a girl in a room every night for three years, while children were punished with deprivation of food and water. During showers, the educator reportedly watched the children “to prevent secret drinking,” Falter cited from the study.
The defenseless minors were also allegedly bitten and beaten. A Children’s Village director is said to have been informed about the incidents and documented them. But instead of helping the minors, he himself was violent toward them, according to the study.
SOS Children’s Village again rejected allegations on Wednesday that the incidents had been covered up: “After the allegations became known in 2020, a comprehensive review was initiated.” Management staff were dismissed, and the allegations were “thoroughly processed with external support.” An intake freeze was imposed at the site in 2020 and officially lifted in December of that year.
The organization admitted that mistakes had occurred: “The suffering experienced by the young people in the care of SOS Children’s Village deeply affects us, and we want to sincerely apologize.” Some affected individuals underwent victim protection procedures and were granted “compensation payments as well as the financing of therapy sessions.”
Additional steps were announced: “The supervisory board will soon commission an external evaluation of the processing procedures to ensure institutional accountability,” SOS Children’s Village said. This will review whether the measures implemented after the allegations became known were effective. Furthermore, “all those who have suffered injustice through SOS Children’s Village can contact independent ombuds offices,” and misconduct can also be reported via the organization’s whistleblowing platform.
In 2020, the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office investigated a former director of the Moosburg SOS Children’s Village and another person. They were accused of possessing abusive images of minors and abusing an authority relationship during a camp in Italy. However, the prosecution was discontinued, said office spokesman Markus Kitz: the photos of bathing children did not fall under the relevant penal code paragraph.
The person who reported the director faced consequences: the director filed charges for defamation in 2020. The Klagenfurt regional court initially convicted the whistleblower, but the Graz higher regional court overturned the ruling, leading to acquittal.
According to Carinthia’s child and youth services, they were only informed by SOS Children’s Village about the allegations in 2020. At the time, it was said that the director had “failed to report allegations against an employee.” These allegations included nude photos of children stored on the employee’s private laptop. The employee was no longer employed at the institution at that time. Later, accusations emerged against the then-director, along with “inadequate pedagogical practices by individual staff” and “deficiencies in implementing standards.”
The child and youth services “firmly rejected” accusations that authorities failed in their responsibility. Immediately after the review, an intake freeze was imposed in May 2020 and communicated to all district authorities in Carinthia. A multi-day special audit was also carried out to protect the children and adolescents being cared for at that time.
Controls in the Moosburg SOS Children’s Village are conducted at least once a year. A checklist is used to assess personnel (number, ratios, qualifications, criminal record checks, training, duty rosters), child-related matters (duration of stay, diagnoses, medication, parental work, leisure activities, incidents), and the facility in general (concept, participation, prevention, crisis plans, equipment, hygiene). Interviews with children and adolescents are conducted without staff present.
Following the allegations, Carinthia ordered an external evaluation of SOS Children’s Village with a focus on the Moosburg site. The offerings were changed: “Care is now provided in residential and small groups. The model of the Children’s Village mother no longer exists in its original form.” Professionally qualified staff were also added to the family-style groups. As of Wednesday, the study cited by Falter still had not been received by child and youth services: “A request for transmission of the study has been made,” it was said.
Reactions from Carinthian state politics quickly followed. “The revelations about systematic abuse in the SOS Children’s Village Moosburg are deeply disturbing and morally reprehensible,” said Team Carinthia leader Gerhard Köfer, calling for “not only a thorough criminal investigation but also uncompromising clarification of institutional and governmental failures.”
NEOS deputy state spokeswoman Iris Glanzer said the allegations shook her deeply: “Every single hint of abuse must be treated with the utmost seriousness and fully clarified.” Green party spokeswoman Olga Voglauer also demanded “comprehensive clarification and processing,” saying there was still “collective looking away.” She also held the state of Carinthia responsible.
“The allegations against staff at SOS Children’s Village Moosburg are shocking and deeply distress me,” said Carinthia’s FPÖ leader Erwin Angerer. He also criticized the authorities: “By 2020 at the latest, the state was aware of the abuses, yet the public was systematically kept in the dark.”
