How did it come to this? A question that countless ‘Krone’ readers are asking themselves after the court ruling against a 33-year-old mother. She had physically and mentally tortured her son for months and locked him in a dog crate. After the case became public, accusations of failure by the authorities were quickly made. An investigative committee from the state of Lower Austria has now investigated the case – and came to a sobering conclusion.
A twelve-year-old boy who was bound and gagged for months, emaciated to 100 pounds, humiliated and stuffed into a dog crate. Almost tortured to death by his own mother. About a year and a half after the horrific act of a 33-year-old Lower Austrian woman and her once best friend in the Waldviertel became known, the sentences against the two women were handed down a few days ago by the Krems Regional Court. The child’s mother was sentenced to twenty years in prison, the second defendant to fourteen years.
Assessment by the Youth Care Office raises questions
A social worker raised the alarm at the last minute and saved the twelve-year-old boy’s life. But it was not only the witness interviews of a child and youth care employee during the trial that raised questions. Although a teacher reported on October 25, 2022 that the boy was in danger (she called the office a total of five times), a check did not take place until three days later.
Although the twelve-year-old had his arms bandaged and answered only in monosyllabic answers, there was no one-on-one conversation with the child. The social workers assumed that the boy had a psychological disability. During another home visit on November 18, 2022, the social worker saw ‘no immediate danger’. The fact that nothing was done about the boy’s incredible martyrdom for months leaves many speechless.
Commission presents results
The state commission now met to investigate possible misconduct by the authorities. Since the autumn of last year, the actions and statements of institutions in the case have been investigated by a group of experts. The independent Child Protection Commission has examined the interfaces, processes and legal provisions. Now the first details have come to light.
Data protection has become an insurmountable obstacle to cross-system action and processing. Despite the urgency and dramatic scale of the case, the experts only had access to publicly available information. As a result, studies remained stuck in purely hypothetical domains; the goal or desire for more efficient and effective child protection was therefore completely ‘case independent and not evaluated’.
Legal consequences cannot be excluded
Members of the state government were informed of the results on Tuesday by State Councilor Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig. Any contradictions between the new information from the legal proceedings and the internal files would be investigated. Administrative assistance has already been requested from the court to send the minutes.
Most urgent measure: Data protection and professional secrecy obligations should never hinder the exchange of knowledge on child protection. Existing legal provisions need to be revised here. Moreover, a regular exchange of all “systems” is essential – i.e. cross-system coordination of all institutions and mandatory documentation.
The public has a right to information
The Commission has also clearly stated that the public has a right to information about the general actions of public institutions. Provided personal rights (data protection) are guaranteed, transparency about acting institutions does not contradict the protection of the child.
The first consequence is the establishment of a Lower Austrian child protection commission. The next step is to hold discussions at the federal level to implement the recommendations. As for the tortured boy in the Waldviertel, a vague and probably unsatisfactory result. As reported, victim advocate Timo Ruisinger is pursuing an official liability lawsuit against the state, because the district administration should have intervened earlier.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
