In Austria, elderly Italian man was convicted of sexual offense against minor Ukrainian refugee
Ukrinform reported, citing APA, that the verdict was handed down on Tuesday and has not yet taken effect.
It was stated in the report that on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, a 73-year-old man was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Korneuburg Regional Court for a serious sexual offense against a minor. The sentence has not yet taken effect. According to the prosecution, the Italian committed numerous assaults against the girl in the Weinviertel area. The sexual acts, which, according to the prosecution, led to the Ukrainian woman's pregnancy, began when the victim was 13 years old.
The investigation established that the defendant met the victim in Ukraine and, in the summer of 2022, helped the girl's family — a mother with three daughters — flee the war to Austria. He lived close to the Ukrainian family in the accommodation he had arranged.
According to the prosecution, in early 2024, the then 13-year-old girl was approached by an elderly Italian man. She allegedly agreed to “live as a couple in love.” After that, sexual acts took place almost daily. Eventually, the girl became pregnant.
"After testing positive for pregnancy, the girl initially wanted to carry the child to term, but her mother convinced her to have an abortion. Later, the owner of the apartment where the Ukrainian family lived in Weinviertel found out about these events. The man reported this to the school, after which a corresponding notification of danger was sent to the competent district administration.
The Italian was taken into custody on December 30, 2024. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the defendant had been having sexual relations with the girl, who was 14 years old at the time, until the day of his arrest.
The 73-year-old man categorically denied the allegations of sexual assault and considered himself unjustly accused, suggesting that the girl's family's financial interests were behind it. He claimed that the sexual acts were consensual. The man also claimed that the girl could not have become pregnant by him because he was infertile, although the examination did not confirm this unequivocally.
The girl's testimony during the jury trial was reproduced using a video recording, and the audience was not allowed into the courtroom. The victim's mother stated that the 73-year-old man was “like a father” to her. At the same time, she stated that she did not notice any acts of violence until she learned of her daughter's pregnancy.
Ukrinform reported that an earlier survey showed that over 25% of Ukrainian women living abroad had experienced sexual or physical violence.
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