Cyber-grooming in Vienna: 47-year-old faces court on charges of abusing three minors
A 47-year-old Viennese man is due to face court on 10 June on charges of serious sexual abuse of three girls. He allegedly manipulated his victims via Instagram.
Viennese man charged with cyber-grooming: three girls aged twelve and thirteen affected
The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office has brought charges against a 47-year-old man who is alleged to have sexually abused three minors online between May and December 2024. According to tt.com, the accused reportedly contacted the children via Instagram, induced them to engage in sexual acts, and got them to film or photograph themselves and send him the material.
The first victim was thirteen years old; the other two were twelve at the time the alleged offences began. The man has a prior conviction for possession of child abuse material. A psychiatric assessment obtained by the prosecution during the investigation concluded that he has an "entrenched paedosexual deviation" – classified as a "serious and persistent psychological" disorder.
False identity on Instagram
According to the charge, the 47-year-old deliberately searched for young girls on Instagram and contacted them as soon as they started a publicly accessible live stream. To the first victim, he posed as a thirteen-year-old girl and gradually earned the child's trust through regular conversations, with the child believing it was communicating with a peer.
At least forty assaults against the thirteen-year-old are said to have occurred. The man allegedly even got the girl to involve a friend a year younger, and demanded material that the two recorded together. Against one of the twelve-year-old victims, he is said to have committed at least nine further serious assaults; the third girl – also twelve years old – is said to have been abused at least twelve times.
Material uploaded to the dark web
The accused is alleged to have uploaded part of the prohibited material to the dark web and made it accessible to other paedophilically inclined men. Towards one of the girls, he is said to have made serious threats when she refused to send further images: according to the charge, he threatened the twelve-year-old that he would send the material already in his possession to her family and her riding instructor.
The man was traced and arrested at the end of June 2025. During a house search, investigators secured various data carriers containing thousands of files of child abuse material. Since then, the 47-year-old has been in custody on remand due to a risk of absconding.
Trial on 10 June at the Graues Haus
As confirmed to the APA by the spokeswoman for the Vienna Regional Court, Christina Salzborn, a hearing will take place on Wednesday afternoon, 10 June, before a jury panel at the Graues Haus. The trial is scheduled for several hours.
The charges, which are final, are for serious sexual abuse of minors, possession and distribution of child abuse material, and attempted sexual coercion. If convicted in accordance with the charges, the man faces a prison sentence of up to ten years.
Furthermore, the expert assessment recommends commitment to so-called therapeutic legal custody under Section 21 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code. According to the assessment, the man presents a danger due to his psychological disposition, and there is concern that without therapeutic supervision following his release from prison, he would with high probability commit serious crimes again.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)