A 12-year-old girl from Vienna whose recent police complaint led to the arrests of 17 migrant minors for alleged long-term sexual abuse has expressed fear for her safety after all but one of the suspects were released by police after just one day pending further investigation.
The gang of males, aged 13 to 18, were detained by Austrian police on Thursday after the schoolgirl was urged by her mother to tell the authorities about the torment she had endured for over a year at the hands of her then-boyfriend and his friends.
The complainant said she had been forced by her boyfriend to have sex with his friends before being passed around “like a trophy” for over a year.
The sexual abuse was allegedly filmed by several of the boys, and the victim claimed the footage was used to blackmail her into staying silent amid threats to send it to her family and friends.
The attacks took place over a sustained period in various locations, including a parking garage, an apartment, and a communal stairwell.
Authorities from the Vienna State Criminal Police Office conducted a mass operation on Thursday morning following the complaint and arrested multiple suspects, seizing several cell phones in connection with the allegations in the process.
A majority of the suspects had a migration background from countries including Syria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, and Italy.
However, all but one of the suspects were released just a day after being detained, with the perpetrators claiming the sex was “consensual” and that the victim had lied about her age, telling the boys she was 14 — the age of consent in Austria.
Given the large number of suspects, lawyers for each are denying knowledge of any cell phone footage and claiming their respective clients had minimal involvement in the incidents, which they insist were of a consensual nature.
“They were in the apartment three times, and two friends were also there in the bedroom. Everything happened without any pressure, she approached the boys on Snapchat and other channels,” a lawyer for one of the boys told the German newspaper Bild.
Family members of the alleged victim have now spoken out anonymously about their fear of reprisal from the gang and have urged police officers to ensure their safety.
“The release of the suspects is a mockery of her suffering!” one relative told the German tabloid.
“We are really afraid that one of the perpetrators might come up with the idea of wanting to take revenge,” they added.
The newspaper reported that the victim is now under the supervision of the Vienna Victim Protection Center, which is shielding her and providing support to the family.