A former employee of the SOS Children’s Village in Seekirchen, Salzburg Flachgau, is alleged to have abused two underage girls at the facility. The Salzburg public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation against the suspect, prosecution spokeswoman Ricarda Eder confirmed to APA on Wednesday, verifying a report in the Salzburger Nachrichten (Wednesday edition).
“The investigation is still at the beginning,” Eder told APA. She could not yet provide concrete details on the allegations, as many interviews are still pending. The case is considered highly sensitive. The prosecution is investigating on suspicion of sexual abuse of minors and abuse of an authority relationship.
According to the Salzburger Nachrichten, the abuse occurred around 2020. The man, who is presumed innocent, allegedly carried out repeated sexual acts on the then under-14-year-old girls by touching them inappropriately in their intimate areas.
Salzburg attorney Sabina Moser has been appointed as the girls’ legal counsel by the Salzburg Child Protection Center. She told APA Wednesday that so far, not many incidents had been described by the two girls. A judicial interview is scheduled for mid-October. Only then, she said, will it be possible to assess how many assaults may have occurred by the then-care assistant.
Eight-Year-Old Boy Allegedly Mistreated
The man, who was about 52 years old in 2020, had supported the Children’s Village mother at the time, the victims’ attorney explained. The two girls were between eight and thirteen years old in 2020. In addition, there is another suspected case of mistreatment: the accused allegedly inflicted physical violence on an eight-year-old boy, pulling his ears and grabbing his neck. “This is also still under investigation,” said Moser.
The accused already has a relevant criminal record. In October 2021, he was convicted at Salzburg Regional Court of sexual abuse of minors. He received an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a fine for abusing a minor girl between 2011 and 2013. Following that conviction, his employment with SOS Children’s Village was terminated.
The current allegations against the ex-employee were not known at the time of his 2021 conviction. SOS Children’s Village has not yet issued a statement to APA. To the Salzburger Nachrichten, it said: “We ask for understanding that we cannot provide information on ongoing investigations for victim protection reasons. And in the interest of victim protection, we ask for highly sensitive reporting on personal details, in order to avoid stigmatization and victimization of the victims.”
Separate from this case, serious allegations of mistreatment became known in mid-September regarding SOS Children’s Villages in Carinthia and Tyrol. According to a report in Falter, children and adolescents were allegedly abused, locked up, and photographed naked for years. The information comes from a study commissioned by SOS Children’s Village itself but never published. The accusations in Carinthia relate to 2008–2020, while in Tyrol five cases of abuse reportedly occurred between 2017 and 2020, according to the Tiroler Tageszeitung.
Irmgard Griss, head of the recently established investigative commission, has emphasized that she intends to closely scrutinize the structures within the organization.
