Pensioner on trial for child abuse in Salzburg

A pensioner was confronted with massive allegations at the Salzburg Regional Court on Monday. The 76-year-old is said to have sexually abused and raped his then underage stepdaughter a few years ago. In addition, the man had used violence against his son and his then wife. According to his defense attorney, the Pongauer only admitted that he pressed the woman against a garden gate. Otherwise, the man pleaded not guilty.

Pensioner on trial for a series of offences

The public prosecutor charged the previously blameless defendant with a number of offenses: serious sexual abuse of minors, rape, abuse of authority, multiple coercion, continued use of violence and physical harm.

Sexually abused stepdaughter?

The man is said to have committed the acts of sexual abuse in 2011 on the then six-year-old girl in Pongau. A few years later, when the stepdaughter was ten or eleven years old, he forced her to have sex and raped her. He is also said to have forced her not to tell her mother about it, otherwise he would do something to her. The prosecutor explained that the sexual acts with the stepdaughter took place during the absence of the wife and son.

The range of allegations is not over yet: The accused is said to have repeatedly hit and kicked his son between June 2013 – when the boy was five years old – and summer 2019. The child suffered bruises and abrasions, the prosecutor said. The pensioner also threatened the son with a knife and a fork. As for the incident at the garden gate, the accused pushed his wife against it because he wanted to pass by with his girlfriend and clear the way. Bruises and abrasions were found in the hospital.

Allegations ‘made up’ according to defendant

The defendant has been divorced from his wife since last year. He told the chair of the jury panel, Judge Martina Kocher, that the allegations “are made up” and were based on the intrigues that his ex-wife and grandparents had spun. The woman instigated the children to make the incriminating statements. The stepdaughter had become cheekier and cheekier from the age of six, but he hadn’t done anything to her. He had a good relationship with his son, “he was everything to me”. The boy was a victim of bullying at school and was beaten by classmates.

The stepdaughter and the son charged the pensioner with their statements in the criminal proceedings. A sworn expert had found in his expertise that the information provided by the two was experience-based. The defense attorney explained that their statements had come successively and were sometimes contradictory. The allegations against the Pongauer are “solely” due to the descriptions of the children. The conflict between the spouses was passed on to the children under the influence of the mother.

Time for verdict in Salzburg still open

The victims’ attorney applied for a symbolic partial compensation for pain and suffering of 5,000 euros per child. It is not yet certain whether a verdict will be pronounced today.

(Those: APA)