Cabaret performer Gunkl sentenced to three years imprisonment for child sexual abuse
Günther Paal, known as cabaret performer Gunkl, was convicted at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court of sexually abusing a small child. Two women stood trial for extortion.
Trial at Vienna Regional Criminal Court: Gunkl admits assault and possession of child sexual abuse material
Günther Paal, who performs as cabaret artist Gunkl, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court for sexually abusing a minor. At the same time, two women stood in the dock, accused of having extorted him over several months. As falter.at reports, the case had become known in its essential details before the trial began – a development that child protection advocates had sharply criticised.
Shortly before 10 o'clock, Paal entered the Grand Jury courtroom wearing cargo trousers. Seated beside him were Julia K. (42) and her mother Susanna L. (63), both Slovak nationals. The judge asked the public at the outset to remain quiet – out of "respect for the girl we are discussing today". The child is Julia K.'s daughter and Susanna L.'s granddaughter.
Extortion with fabricated photographs – 159,000 euros paid
Julia K. pleaded guilty. From early 2025 to mid-2026, she had extorted Paal using allegedly compromising photographs purportedly showing him with the then three-year-old girl in a bathtub. "I made that up," she told the judge. According to her account, the photographs never existed. A total of 159,000 euros flowed through the extortion. On 5 June, Paal handed Julia K. 30,000 euros at Vienna's main railway station; police arrested her shortly afterwards.
Susanna L., by contrast, pleaded not guilty and disputed knowing about the extortion. Telephone surveillance records proved to the court, however, that she was at least involved.
Paal describes his relationship with the women as paid sexual services
Paal said he had met the two women in 2014 through a "relevant newspaper advertisement" in the witness stand. The accounts given by those involved concerning the nature of their relationship differed significantly: the women spoke of friendship and occasional paid sex on the sidelines of joint meetings; Paal clearly described it as sexual services for money. About two years ago, the assault on the child took place in the presence of the mother and grandmother. The court held the precise description of the act in closed session; the victim's representative explicitly addressed the media present: "In order to describe an injustice, it is not necessary to provide the broad public with details that concern the intimate sphere of a small girl."
960 image files and 19 videos secured during house search
Paal had turned himself in to police on 29 May 2026. During a subsequent house search, investigators secured 960 image and 19 video files on three computers, which according to the judge partly showed "hardcore child sexual abuse material". The material came from the internet and relevant forums, Paal said – in the same matter-of-fact tone that observers know from his stage performances. He had not paid for it.
New in the trial was his admission that he had also shared the material via ICQ. "ICQ is an old chat client that was frequently used in the paedophile scene to exchange files," explained an IT expert. Furthermore, Paal admitted that before turning himself in, he had destroyed a hard drive containing abuse imagery. He had not been aware that he still had material on the remaining devices. "If I had known," he said, and left the sentence unfinished.
"To all appearances, I am"
When his defence counsel asked whether he would describe himself as paedophile – an assessment that Paal had previously denied – he replied: "To all appearances, I am." A psychiatric assessment did not take place; according to his own account, Paal has since begun psychotherapy treatment.
Background: Self-reporting and public debate
The case became public in the summer after Paal turned himself in to police. Gradually, increasingly intimate details emerged in the public sphere – a development that child protection organisations sharply criticised. The mother of the affected girl had pressured Paal with the – as it turned out, fabricated – photographs after the actual assault had taken place.
The verdict against all three defendants was issued at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court; Paal was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)