Dad is identified only as ALEXANDER S.
http://www.thelocal.at/20141110/toddler-scalded-by-father-dies-in-hospital
Toddler scalded by father dies in hospital
Published: 10 Nov 2014 14:11 GMT+01:00
A two-year-old girl left in an artificial coma and fighting for her life after her father threw her into a scalding hot shower leaving her with severe burns has died in the Austrian capital Vienna.
Her father, Alexander S., 26, told police he did not realise the shower was scalding hot when he threw his daughter Leonie inside and switched it on, and had not even realised she had been burned until the blisters started appearing hours later.
Medics however said that the burns were so severe it was impossible that the man could not have realised what had happened.
The parents, who live in Vienna's Floridsdorf district, also admitted that they had not immediately taken the child to hospital, and apparently left her crying almost non-stop for a day before finally deciding to take her for treatment.
She was immediately put in the intensive care ward at the Vienna SMZ hospital because of the severity of the burns on her back.
The father initially lied to medics that it had been an accident. But the extent of the child's injuries prompted medics to raise the alarm, and when he was later questioned by police, he admitted he had put her in the shower to "discipline her".
He also admitted he had often put the child in a cold shower to discipline her in the past, but that he had never wanted to harm her.
The hospital said that the child had been bought in for treatment two weeks ago, but that they had alerted police after her condition worsened.
An SMZ Ost hospital spokesman said: "The condition of the little girl worsened dramatically. She died as a result of massive organ failure. She was suffering from severe necrosis which was a consequence of the severe burns on her back. A substantial portion of the skin had been quite simply destroyed and as a result her organs failed together with the skin."
The father was questioned and released on police bail on the condition he did not return to the family home or have any contact with his wife and two other children while the investigation is continuing.
Social workers meanwhile say they are leaving the two young boys, a baby and a seven-year-old boy, with their 25-year-old mother after an examination showed that neither appeared to have any signs of abuse.
Social worker Herta Staffa said: "They are not seen to be at risk in her care. We will remain in contact with the mother to see whether she could imagine living with her partner again and to put in place a support network if he does return to the family."
The family was once previously investigated by the youth welfare office in 2012, but according to Staffa, everything was found to be as it should be.
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2014
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Dad gets 18 years in "secure institution" for raping daughter over seven years (Vienna, Austria)
Of course it's an UNNAMED DAD. And the basic math here is wrong. If Daddy raped her between 2000 and 2007, that's seven years. Not five. And notice that Daddy isn't going to a real prison either. Just a "secure institution for felons with psychological disorders." Is that fancy language for a psychiatric hospital?
http://austrianindependent.com/news/General_News/2011-10-05/9176/Family_father_gets_18_years_for_abusing_daughter
05. 10. 11. - 15:24
Family father gets 18 years for abusing daughter
A Viennese man has been sentenced to prison for molesting his daughter for five years.
The 55-year-old – who resided with his family in Burgenland for years – was ordered to spend 18 years at a secure institution for felons with psychological disorders by a court in Eisenstadt yesterday (Tues). The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The sex attacks reportedly happened between 2000 and 2007. The 15-year-old victim of the man, who confessed some offences, told the police of her ordeal when her mother reported him for beating her up. The couple have separated in the meantime.
Meanwhile, the manager of a sadomasochism (SM) sex club was sentenced to seven years in jail for attempting to kidnap a teenager waiting at a bus stop in Vienna in 2002. The defendant admitted the would-be abduction of the woman who is 26 years old now. His night-time kidnapping bid failed when a pedestrian heard her screams for help.
http://austrianindependent.com/news/General_News/2011-10-05/9176/Family_father_gets_18_years_for_abusing_daughter
05. 10. 11. - 15:24
Family father gets 18 years for abusing daughter
A Viennese man has been sentenced to prison for molesting his daughter for five years.
The 55-year-old – who resided with his family in Burgenland for years – was ordered to spend 18 years at a secure institution for felons with psychological disorders by a court in Eisenstadt yesterday (Tues). The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The sex attacks reportedly happened between 2000 and 2007. The 15-year-old victim of the man, who confessed some offences, told the police of her ordeal when her mother reported him for beating her up. The couple have separated in the meantime.
Meanwhile, the manager of a sadomasochism (SM) sex club was sentenced to seven years in jail for attempting to kidnap a teenager waiting at a bus stop in Vienna in 2002. The defendant admitted the would-be abduction of the woman who is 26 years old now. His night-time kidnapping bid failed when a pedestrian heard her screams for help.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Rapist dad gets 10 years for sexually abusing daughter, son (Linz, Austria)
Of course it's an UNNAMED DAD. No mention of a mother in the home.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.
http://austrianindependent.com/news/General_News/2011-09-09/8954/Incest_dad_gets_10_years
09. 09. 11. - 16:00
Incest dad gets 10 years
An Upper Austrian man has been sentenced to jail for abusing his children for years.
The unidentified defendant admitted having abused his daughter and son for 25 years. The girl – whose age and place of residence were not disclosed after the non-public trial in Linz – gave birth to a child four years ago. Her dad was found to be the kid’s father.
The accused also sexually abused his son – who then molested his sister. Judges decided yesterday (Thurs) to drop charges brought against the young man. His father pleaded guilty, meaning that the verdict of 10 years behind bars is legally binding.
Earlier this month, the lawyer of an elderly man accused of molesting his daughters since 1970 said his client denied any wrongdoing. The pensioner, 80, from the Upper Austrian district of Braunau is suspected of having repeatedly raped the women. He is in custody.
INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.
http://austrianindependent.com/news/General_News/2011-09-09/8954/Incest_dad_gets_10_years
09. 09. 11. - 16:00
Incest dad gets 10 years
An Upper Austrian man has been sentenced to jail for abusing his children for years.
The unidentified defendant admitted having abused his daughter and son for 25 years. The girl – whose age and place of residence were not disclosed after the non-public trial in Linz – gave birth to a child four years ago. Her dad was found to be the kid’s father.
The accused also sexually abused his son – who then molested his sister. Judges decided yesterday (Thurs) to drop charges brought against the young man. His father pleaded guilty, meaning that the verdict of 10 years behind bars is legally binding.
Earlier this month, the lawyer of an elderly man accused of molesting his daughters since 1970 said his client denied any wrongdoing. The pensioner, 80, from the Upper Austrian district of Braunau is suspected of having repeatedly raped the women. He is in custody.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Dad imprisoned, raped daughters for over 40 years (Brannau, Austria)
One of the few cases where I'm left just speechless. The father is only identified as GOTTFRIED W.
Seriously, how could a social worker totally miss this situation for so many years, even if the "girls" weren't talking?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030449/Austria-abuse-cases-Sisters-raped-41-years-father-slowly-went-mad.html
Pictured: The horror basement where sisters were raped for 41 years by their father and slowly went mad
Women were born healthy but became mentally ill because of abuse, new evidence reveals
Victims kept in dingy basement surrounded by wood and tools
Neighbours knew father as 'stern, rigid' master of his house
Women were only seen outside once - visiting mother's grave
By Allan Hall
Last updated at 6:04 PM on 26th August 2011
This is the disgusting dungeon where an Austrian man violated his own daughters in a nightmare spanning 15,000 days and nights.
'If you fight back, then I will kill you,' Gottfried W. told his children Christine, 53, and Erika, 45, who were forced to sleep at night on a wooden shelf while their father, now 80, snoozed in a feather bed.
Amid farming implements, old oil drums, wood, cement sacks and filth he violated his own flesh and blood with a depravity on a par with Josef Fritzl.
His wife Berta, 85, passed away in 2008. She too was a victim of the former council labourer's sadism, beaten like them with a stick and poked with a pitchfork.
The girls became mentally ill over the years - not a condition they were born with, but a result of the torments they suffered at his hands.
Police say their mother, also beaten into submission, made them promise on her deathbed not to tell anyone about what their father did to them.
Other rooms in the sprawling house near Braunau-am-Inn - the birthplace of Adolf Hitler - were kept spic and span.
But the girls were forced to live in squalor, sleep in the kitchen and use a commode instead of the lavatory in the house.
Forty years of abuse ended in May this year when Gottfried tried to have his way with Christine one more time and she finally snapped.
She hit him with a milk jug on the head. He fell to the floor and cracked his head again.
For two days he was unable to move and police say they hoped he would die.
Finally the women, who were seen from time to time by a social worker - but who were so conditioned by his threats never to expose his vile treatment of them - called her in.
She telephoned for an ambulance for him and the women were taken into care. But still they said nothing.
It was only in June when they opened up to a Red Cross worker about what had happened to them.
It was this volunteer who called in the police.
Austria - still coming to terms with the kidnapping of schoolgirl Natascha Kampusch in the 90s and the Fritzl incest saga - is stunned at another terrible family crime being exposed within its borders.
Gottfried, known as Friedl to neighbours, was an archetypal Austrian father of the old school. He was stern, rigid, master of his house and keeper of the secrets that went inside it.
He controlled all social contact of his daughters with the outside world.
The only time they were seen out together was with him visiting the grave of their mother.
Gottfried has been moved to a prison in nearby Ried while the investigation against him continues; his daughters are undergoing psychiatric therapy in a clinic.
He faces charges of rape, unlawful imprisonment, cruelty, assault and making threats to kill. He was moved from an OAP home where he had been treated since his injuries in May to the jail on Thursday.
Seriously, how could a social worker totally miss this situation for so many years, even if the "girls" weren't talking?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030449/Austria-abuse-cases-Sisters-raped-41-years-father-slowly-went-mad.html
Pictured: The horror basement where sisters were raped for 41 years by their father and slowly went mad
Women were born healthy but became mentally ill because of abuse, new evidence reveals
Victims kept in dingy basement surrounded by wood and tools
Neighbours knew father as 'stern, rigid' master of his house
Women were only seen outside once - visiting mother's grave
By Allan Hall
Last updated at 6:04 PM on 26th August 2011
This is the disgusting dungeon where an Austrian man violated his own daughters in a nightmare spanning 15,000 days and nights.
'If you fight back, then I will kill you,' Gottfried W. told his children Christine, 53, and Erika, 45, who were forced to sleep at night on a wooden shelf while their father, now 80, snoozed in a feather bed.
Amid farming implements, old oil drums, wood, cement sacks and filth he violated his own flesh and blood with a depravity on a par with Josef Fritzl.
His wife Berta, 85, passed away in 2008. She too was a victim of the former council labourer's sadism, beaten like them with a stick and poked with a pitchfork.
The girls became mentally ill over the years - not a condition they were born with, but a result of the torments they suffered at his hands.
Police say their mother, also beaten into submission, made them promise on her deathbed not to tell anyone about what their father did to them.
Other rooms in the sprawling house near Braunau-am-Inn - the birthplace of Adolf Hitler - were kept spic and span.
But the girls were forced to live in squalor, sleep in the kitchen and use a commode instead of the lavatory in the house.
Forty years of abuse ended in May this year when Gottfried tried to have his way with Christine one more time and she finally snapped.
She hit him with a milk jug on the head. He fell to the floor and cracked his head again.
For two days he was unable to move and police say they hoped he would die.
Finally the women, who were seen from time to time by a social worker - but who were so conditioned by his threats never to expose his vile treatment of them - called her in.
She telephoned for an ambulance for him and the women were taken into care. But still they said nothing.
It was only in June when they opened up to a Red Cross worker about what had happened to them.
It was this volunteer who called in the police.
Austria - still coming to terms with the kidnapping of schoolgirl Natascha Kampusch in the 90s and the Fritzl incest saga - is stunned at another terrible family crime being exposed within its borders.
Gottfried, known as Friedl to neighbours, was an archetypal Austrian father of the old school. He was stern, rigid, master of his house and keeper of the secrets that went inside it.
He controlled all social contact of his daughters with the outside world.
The only time they were seen out together was with him visiting the grave of their mother.
Gottfried has been moved to a prison in nearby Ried while the investigation against him continues; his daughters are undergoing psychiatric therapy in a clinic.
He faces charges of rape, unlawful imprisonment, cruelty, assault and making threats to kill. He was moved from an OAP home where he had been treated since his injuries in May to the jail on Thursday.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Single dad stages slave auction--of his own 8-year-old son (Wuhan, China)
Dad YONG TSUI has been accused of trying to sell his terrified 8-year-old son at a "slave auction." This POS literally had this boy chained to a lamppost like some sort of dog. Seems to be another case of an "overwhelmed" single dad, since the boy's mother died three years ago.
http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2010-05-26/23726/Child_slave_auction_
Child slave auction
A father staged a modern day slave auction after chaining his son to a lamppost and taking bids from strangers to take the terrified eight-year-old off his hands.
Dad Yong Tsui had put up a small table with a sign on it giving the youngster's age, name, and his capacity for hard work.
But when bidders began to ask how little he could eat, furious passers by turned on the auction and attacked Fai's father to stop the sale in Wuhan, central China.
Police - who now have the boy in care - say dad Yong told them the boy's mother had died three years ago and he could no longer afford to raise him.
"He has no job, no home and no money. He says he wasn't interested in the money, just finding a home for the boy," said one officer.
Yong Tsui said he had read how another youngster, Cheng Jindan, aged two, had been offered day care after being kept in chains while his dad worked as a rickshaw driver and his handicapped mum scavenged for rubbish.
But now Jindan has become a pupil at a local nursery in the Chinese capital Beijing thanks to the generosity of those who read about his plight.
Shocking pictures of Jindan padlocked to a lamppost horrified people around the world.
The youngster was locked up in the street to keep him safe after his older sister Jinhong was snatched by kidnappers while playing with friends.
Child abduction is rife in China where the victims frequently end up in forced labour or the vice industry.
Austrian Times
http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2010-05-26/23726/Child_slave_auction_
Child slave auction
A father staged a modern day slave auction after chaining his son to a lamppost and taking bids from strangers to take the terrified eight-year-old off his hands.
Dad Yong Tsui had put up a small table with a sign on it giving the youngster's age, name, and his capacity for hard work.
But when bidders began to ask how little he could eat, furious passers by turned on the auction and attacked Fai's father to stop the sale in Wuhan, central China.
Police - who now have the boy in care - say dad Yong told them the boy's mother had died three years ago and he could no longer afford to raise him.
"He has no job, no home and no money. He says he wasn't interested in the money, just finding a home for the boy," said one officer.
Yong Tsui said he had read how another youngster, Cheng Jindan, aged two, had been offered day care after being kept in chains while his dad worked as a rickshaw driver and his handicapped mum scavenged for rubbish.
But now Jindan has become a pupil at a local nursery in the Chinese capital Beijing thanks to the generosity of those who read about his plight.
Shocking pictures of Jindan padlocked to a lamppost horrified people around the world.
The youngster was locked up in the street to keep him safe after his older sister Jinhong was snatched by kidnappers while playing with friends.
Child abduction is rife in China where the victims frequently end up in forced labour or the vice industry.
Austrian Times
Friday, March 26, 2010
Dad gets 20 months for breaking 24 bones in 7-week-old daughter's body (Klagenfurt, Austria)
UNNAMED DAD has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for breaking 24 bones in the body of his 7-week-old daughter. Poor Daddy was just "overburdened" by the baby's crying, don't ya know.
http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2010-03-26/21978/Dad_gets_20_months_for_breaking_24_bones_in_child's_body
Dad gets 20 months for breaking 24 bones in child's body
A vicious dad who broke 24 bones in his infant daughter’s body was sentenced to 20 months in prison by Klagenfurt provincial court today (Fri).
Public prosecutor Sandra Agnoli said last December the 21-year-old dad had squeezed his seven-week-old daughter’s body so hard that he had crushed her bones.
Medical expert Regina Gatternig said the man had attacked the infant at least twice before. She added that it took considerable violence to break a baby’s ribs.
The father of one claimed he had been overburdened by the baby’s crying.
His attorney said he would appeal the sentence.
http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2010-03-26/21978/Dad_gets_20_months_for_breaking_24_bones_in_child's_body
Dad gets 20 months for breaking 24 bones in child's body
A vicious dad who broke 24 bones in his infant daughter’s body was sentenced to 20 months in prison by Klagenfurt provincial court today (Fri).
Public prosecutor Sandra Agnoli said last December the 21-year-old dad had squeezed his seven-week-old daughter’s body so hard that he had crushed her bones.
Medical expert Regina Gatternig said the man had attacked the infant at least twice before. She added that it took considerable violence to break a baby’s ribs.
The father of one claimed he had been overburdened by the baby’s crying.
His attorney said he would appeal the sentence.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Incest dungeon may be filled with concrete (Amstetten, Austria)
I think that the destruction of this place is the best option.
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/141211
Josef Fritzl's incest dungeon may be filled with concrete
London, Thu, 31 Dec 2009 ANI
London, Dec 30 (ANI): The dungeon that witnessed Elisabeth Fritzl's pain and agony at the hands of her father Josef may be demolished and filled in with concrete, it has emerged.
Along with Fritzl's other properties, his house in Amstetten, Austria was placed on the market. But even after many months, the place found no buyers.
Liquidator Walter Anzboeck is selling the house to cover Fritzl's mortgage and bank debts following his imprisonment for life on rape, kidnap and child killing charges, reports The Daily Express.
Also, Anzboeck has ruled out plans to open the home as a macabre museum or to rent it to a TV station for a documentary on the case, and is considering plans to demolish the house, and fill in the basement before selling it on as a building lot. Buyers for Fritzl's other properties have been found.
Fritzl raped his daughter 3,000 times, fathered seven children by her and held her prisoner in a 5ft-high cellar beneath the family home for 24 years. (ANI)
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/141211
Josef Fritzl's incest dungeon may be filled with concrete
London, Thu, 31 Dec 2009 ANI
London, Dec 30 (ANI): The dungeon that witnessed Elisabeth Fritzl's pain and agony at the hands of her father Josef may be demolished and filled in with concrete, it has emerged.
Along with Fritzl's other properties, his house in Amstetten, Austria was placed on the market. But even after many months, the place found no buyers.
Liquidator Walter Anzboeck is selling the house to cover Fritzl's mortgage and bank debts following his imprisonment for life on rape, kidnap and child killing charges, reports The Daily Express.
Also, Anzboeck has ruled out plans to open the home as a macabre museum or to rent it to a TV station for a documentary on the case, and is considering plans to demolish the house, and fill in the basement before selling it on as a building lot. Buyers for Fritzl's other properties have been found.
Fritzl raped his daughter 3,000 times, fathered seven children by her and held her prisoner in a 5ft-high cellar beneath the family home for 24 years. (ANI)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Research in Child Abuse and Neglect: Bacterial Colonization in Suspected Sexually Abused Children (2007)
Part of our ongoing survey as to what the child abuse and neglect literature says about perpetrators. Perpetrator data is highlighted in bold. To access earlier posts on the child abuse and neglect literature, go to the statistics tab below.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W68-4PN7KJH-7&_user=4558894&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000063405&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=4558894&md5=fed49b54b3398625faecd9753a5636a2
North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Published by Elsevier Inc.
Original Studies
Bacterial Colonization In Suspected Sexually Abused Children
Petra Kohlberger MD, a, and Dagmar Bancher-Todesca MDa
aDepartment of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Available online 13 September 2007.
Abstract
Objective
Previous studies concluded that symptomatic prepubertal children with Gardnerella vaginalis infection should be investigated for child sexual abuse. Gardnerella vaginalis is only one out of a group of organism that cause bacterial vaginosis. The aim of the study was to report the frequency of bacterial colonization as well as sexually transmitted diseases and to correlate these data with patient characteristics.
Methods
Data were collected from 1996 to 2006. Medical records of 180 girls, median age at first sexual abuse 7.44 years (range 1–16, SD 3.937), have been evaluated retrospectively. SPSS software 12.0 has been used for statistical analysis.
Results
Only 18.3% of patients complained of vaginal discharge or pruritus. Sexually transmitted diseases were documented: Gonorrhoea 1 (1.8%, 56 tested), Chlamydia trachomatis 1 (1.6%, 62 tested), Syphilis 0 (0%, 5 tested), Trichomonas vaginalis 1 (0.7%, 136 tested) and HIV 0 (0%, 27 tested). Bacterial colonization were documented (121 tested): Gardnerella vaginalis 29 (24%), Enterobacteriaceae 50 (41.3%), Haemophilus influenzae 11 (9.1%), Streptococcus a haemolyticus 35 (28.9%), Streptococcus Group B 8 (6.6%), Staphylococcus Koag neg. 37 (30.6%), Staphylococcus aureus 10 (8.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4 (4.1%), Bacteroides 19 (15.7%), Prevotella 24 (19.8%), Klebsiella 4 (3.3%), Corynebacteria 20 (16.5%) and Ureaplasma 9 (7.4%).
Conclusions
Sexually transmitted diseases are infrequent in children suspected for child sexual abuse. Bacterial colonization is common, however, not correlated with clinical symptoms (except for Bacteroides) and hymenal/vaginal injuries.
***
Results
The perpetrator was a member of the family, e.g. the father or stepfather, in 38.3% of the cases. Of the examined victims, 76.1% showed no hymenal-vaginal tear and 91.1% no signs of extra-genital injuries. Only 18.3% of patients complained of vaginal discharge or pruritus. Sexually transmitted diseases were documented: Gonorrhoea 1 (1.8%, 56 tested), Chlamydia trachomatis 1 (1.6%, 62 tested), Syphilis 0 (0%, 5 tested), Trichomonas vaginalis 1 (0.7%, 136 tested) and HIV 0 (0%, 27 tested). Bacterial colonization were documented (121 tested): Gardnerella vaginalis 29 (24%), Enterobacteriaceae 50 (41.3%), Haemophilus influenzae 11 (9.1%), Streptococcus a haem. 35 (28.9%), Streptococcus Group B 8 (6.6%), Staphylococcus Koag neg. 37 (30.6%), Staphylococcus aureus 10 (8.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4 (4.1%), Bacteroides 19 (15.7%), Prevotella 24 (19.8%), Klebsiella 4 (3.3%), Corynebacteria 20 (16.5%) and Ureaplasma 9 (7.4%).
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W68-4PN7KJH-7&_user=4558894&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000063405&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=4558894&md5=fed49b54b3398625faecd9753a5636a2
North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Published by Elsevier Inc.
Original Studies
Bacterial Colonization In Suspected Sexually Abused Children
Petra Kohlberger MD, a, and Dagmar Bancher-Todesca MDa
aDepartment of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Available online 13 September 2007.
Abstract
Objective
Previous studies concluded that symptomatic prepubertal children with Gardnerella vaginalis infection should be investigated for child sexual abuse. Gardnerella vaginalis is only one out of a group of organism that cause bacterial vaginosis. The aim of the study was to report the frequency of bacterial colonization as well as sexually transmitted diseases and to correlate these data with patient characteristics.
Methods
Data were collected from 1996 to 2006. Medical records of 180 girls, median age at first sexual abuse 7.44 years (range 1–16, SD 3.937), have been evaluated retrospectively. SPSS software 12.0 has been used for statistical analysis.
Results
Only 18.3% of patients complained of vaginal discharge or pruritus. Sexually transmitted diseases were documented: Gonorrhoea 1 (1.8%, 56 tested), Chlamydia trachomatis 1 (1.6%, 62 tested), Syphilis 0 (0%, 5 tested), Trichomonas vaginalis 1 (0.7%, 136 tested) and HIV 0 (0%, 27 tested). Bacterial colonization were documented (121 tested): Gardnerella vaginalis 29 (24%), Enterobacteriaceae 50 (41.3%), Haemophilus influenzae 11 (9.1%), Streptococcus a haemolyticus 35 (28.9%), Streptococcus Group B 8 (6.6%), Staphylococcus Koag neg. 37 (30.6%), Staphylococcus aureus 10 (8.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4 (4.1%), Bacteroides 19 (15.7%), Prevotella 24 (19.8%), Klebsiella 4 (3.3%), Corynebacteria 20 (16.5%) and Ureaplasma 9 (7.4%).
Conclusions
Sexually transmitted diseases are infrequent in children suspected for child sexual abuse. Bacterial colonization is common, however, not correlated with clinical symptoms (except for Bacteroides) and hymenal/vaginal injuries.
***
Results
The perpetrator was a member of the family, e.g. the father or stepfather, in 38.3% of the cases. Of the examined victims, 76.1% showed no hymenal-vaginal tear and 91.1% no signs of extra-genital injuries. Only 18.3% of patients complained of vaginal discharge or pruritus. Sexually transmitted diseases were documented: Gonorrhoea 1 (1.8%, 56 tested), Chlamydia trachomatis 1 (1.6%, 62 tested), Syphilis 0 (0%, 5 tested), Trichomonas vaginalis 1 (0.7%, 136 tested) and HIV 0 (0%, 27 tested). Bacterial colonization were documented (121 tested): Gardnerella vaginalis 29 (24%), Enterobacteriaceae 50 (41.3%), Haemophilus influenzae 11 (9.1%), Streptococcus a haem. 35 (28.9%), Streptococcus Group B 8 (6.6%), Staphylococcus Koag neg. 37 (30.6%), Staphylococcus aureus 10 (8.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4 (4.1%), Bacteroides 19 (15.7%), Prevotella 24 (19.8%), Klebsiella 4 (3.3%), Corynebacteria 20 (16.5%) and Ureaplasma 9 (7.4%).
Friday, October 23, 2009
Fathers who abuse: "I've seen Evil from Almost Every Angle" (Germany)
Interesting intereview with Austrian psychiatrist Heidi Kastner on fathers who abuse children. It's published in Der Spiegel, a German newspaper.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,656697,00.html
Fritzl Analyst
'I've Seen Evil from Almost Every Angle'
By Frank Thadeusz
Austrian psychiatrist Heidi Kastner has spent her career preparing expert opinions on fathers who abuse their children, including Josef Fritzl. In a SPIEGEL interview, she discusses her new book and her experiences researching fathers who abuse their children in horrendous ways.
SPIEGEL: Ms. Kastner, you write about cruel and extreme acts of violence against children. Who would want to read this sort of material voluntarily?
Kastner: I don't know. I am confronted with these cases regularly. Perhaps I have lost, to some degree, my awareness of how this affects others. Someone who works as a garbage collector eventually gets used to the stench.
SPIEGEL: Your book is filled with stories of psychopaths, frenzied attackers and other maniacs. Aren't you overstepping the mark a bit?
Kastner: It's true that I only describe the truly tough cases of paternal abuse. But I am a forensic psychiatrist, and I've been working in this field for 12 years. I don't exactly deal with people who slap their children on streetcars.
SPIEGEL: What interests you about the cruelty of fathers?
Kastner: I'm mainly interested in the motivation of the offenders. That motivation has hardly been studied in the so-called family tragedies, for example, in which a man kills his wife and children. When I was preparing for this book, I found only three studies on this subject, and one of them was from the Fiji Islands.
SPIEGEL: What did you discover?
Kastner: When I examined the cases more closely, I found that the men who had run amok in their own families had one thing in common: Their lives had fallen apart at two levels. Their partner had left them and, at the same time, they had lost their jobs or were in serious financial difficulties.
SPIEGEL: The same thing can happen to women.
Kastner: Yes, but then we tend to see mothers who become so depressed that they commit suicide and take their children with them. Among the men, I encountered almost no cases in which depressive illness was the underlying cause. Narcissistic disorders are more likely in these cases.
SPIEGEL: You describe how a woman regularly abused her 10-year-old son. In another case, a woman with sadistic tendencies held her daughter down while her boyfriend raped the child. Are the mothers just as guilty as the fathers?
Kastner: I never claim that only men are violent. With women, I have always had a problem with the notion of their looking the other way. This excuse that "I would be lost without him, which is why I couldn't do anything about it when he abused my child" is complete nonsense -- especially today, at a time when therapeutic and financial resources are made available to anyone. It makes my blood boil. The children suffer from the mother's betrayal almost as much as from the abuse itself. Our criminal laws pay insufficient attention to the moral culpability of mothers.
SPIEGEL: Isn't it possible that the mothers don't notice anything?
Kastner: When the mother says: "I didn't notice anything, because I was never home when it was happening," it's difficult to prosecute her. But it's preposterous to claim that a wife wouldn't notice a child being abused for four years in a 40-square-meter (430-square-foot) apartment.
SPIEGEL: You write about a generation-spanning tradition among fathers who exercise the "right of the first night" against their daughters ...
Kastner: Indeed. I encountered such cases again and again, in all social classes. The father believes that the daughter is his property, and that he is as entitled to her as he is to the biggest piece of meat on the table. And the mother covers it up. When a daughter comes to her and says: "Father did strange things to me," she replies: "Oh don't make such a fuss about it. My father did the same thing with me."
SPIEGEL: What's it like in these kinds of families? Can there be such a thing as normal life within the context of the inconceivable?
Kastner: There are these one-time rites of passage that are considered part of becoming an adult in some families. But there are also families in which a daughter is routinely abused for many years, and yet life in these families seems astonishingly normal. The child completely isolates the perverse things that are happening. I've spoken with many victims who said that they would simply lie there as if they were not even present. And when the right time came, they would switch back to reality. By compartmentalizing in this way, it was possible to go fishing with the father or go on family outings, and even to like him.
SPIEGEL: Isn't there something liberating for the women in the family when, after several generations, one of them finally stands up and defends herself?
Kastner: No, on the contrary. In these families, it is often the case that everyone joins forces to oppose the child who reports the father to the police. In this sense, female victims are now more emancipated than male victims. There are certainly many abused boys who rarely go to the police, because it's even more difficult to reconcile sexual abuse with the male self-image.
SPIEGEL: You became known as a result of a particularly repulsive case of incest. You wrote the psychiatric report on Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter for almost 24 years in a cellar. Wouldn't it have made more sense to write a book about that case?
Kastner: The Fritzl case is also a burden for me, because I am often associated exclusively with this case. Besides, do we have to satisfy every questionable voyeuristic interest? No one will become a better person by knowing how often Mr. Fritzl changes his socks.
SPIEGEL: In Fritzl's case, did you have the feeling that you understood him?
Kastner: Yes. What the Fritzl case boiled down to was that although I spoke to the man for 27 hours, I thought to myself, after the first five hours: I can understand and explain how he is wired.
SPIEGEL: So how is he wired?
Kastner: Based on his belief in an unlimited, sexualized exercise of power. He chased after girls in the park, raped a woman and locked up his daughter, and he always believed that he could get away with it. We are all familiar with this feeling to a lesser extent. It's a creeping feeling of self-corruption, based on the motto: Now that I've eaten the first piece of cake, it doesn't matter whether I eat another one.
SPIEGEL: Did Fritzl have any sense of guilt?
Kastner: He certainly knew that what he was doing was wrong. He once told me that it became more difficult every day to end the situation with his daughter. After a week, he thought that he ought to let her out, but then he asked himself: How will I explain this to my wife and everyone else? After that, he thought that he would have to wait until his daughter was so broken that he could be sure that she wouldn't tell anyone. But the longer he waited, the clearer it became to him that the best solution was simply to keep her in the dungeon.
SPIEGEL: In some of the media reports, it was suggested that Fritzl is a pretty clever guy…
Kastner: Oh, you would be surprised to know how little ingenuity it takes to do something this sinister. Fritzl is a technician who approached his actions with the precision of an accountant. I knew not to expect any sophisticated reflection from him, because it didn't happen. Fritzl is simple-minded. For him, everything is confined to one box. There is nothing else.
SPIEGEL: Was Fritzl your worst case?
Kastner: The chronological dimension was certainly unusual. But when it comes to the details I have encountered similarly horrific crimes.
SPIEGEL: You describe the case of a man named G., who beat his wife and abused the child, a baby, so severely that it later died. When you interviewed G. in prison, he portrayed himself as a persecuted innocent and bragged about his correspondence with a wealthy woman. How do you manage to remain calm in conversation with a man like that?
Kastner: I have to admit that I found him hard to tolerate, as a person. I try to be conscious of my own reactions, so as to prevent them from shaping my actions. I go there as a professional and not as a person with her own emotions. But I do notice that it's difficult for me to distance myself from some of these cases and remain objective.
SPIEGEL: Do the offenders try to manipulate you?
Kastner: Of course, again and again.
SPIEGEL: Do you notice something like that right away?
Kastner: No, I would be lying if I said that. But over the years I've certainly developed a sixth sense for things that seem a bit too smooth and pleasant, which make me professionally suspicious. You have to know the files well and prepare yourself well.
SPIEGEL: Your book is so full of abominations that one could lose one's faith in the good side of people. Have you already given up on humanity?
Kastner: Not at all. I deal with these cases every day, sometimes for 12 to 14 hours, and I've seen evil from almost every angle. I promised myself that if I ever notice that it's changing me, that it's making me depressed, resigned or cynical, I'll stop. But that isn't the case. I have honed my awareness and I'm probably far more curious than many others. Evil is part of human nature. It's better to recognize that fact.
Interview conducted by Frank Thadeusz.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,656697,00.html
Fritzl Analyst
'I've Seen Evil from Almost Every Angle'
By Frank Thadeusz
Austrian psychiatrist Heidi Kastner has spent her career preparing expert opinions on fathers who abuse their children, including Josef Fritzl. In a SPIEGEL interview, she discusses her new book and her experiences researching fathers who abuse their children in horrendous ways.
SPIEGEL: Ms. Kastner, you write about cruel and extreme acts of violence against children. Who would want to read this sort of material voluntarily?
Kastner: I don't know. I am confronted with these cases regularly. Perhaps I have lost, to some degree, my awareness of how this affects others. Someone who works as a garbage collector eventually gets used to the stench.
SPIEGEL: Your book is filled with stories of psychopaths, frenzied attackers and other maniacs. Aren't you overstepping the mark a bit?
Kastner: It's true that I only describe the truly tough cases of paternal abuse. But I am a forensic psychiatrist, and I've been working in this field for 12 years. I don't exactly deal with people who slap their children on streetcars.
SPIEGEL: What interests you about the cruelty of fathers?
Kastner: I'm mainly interested in the motivation of the offenders. That motivation has hardly been studied in the so-called family tragedies, for example, in which a man kills his wife and children. When I was preparing for this book, I found only three studies on this subject, and one of them was from the Fiji Islands.
SPIEGEL: What did you discover?
Kastner: When I examined the cases more closely, I found that the men who had run amok in their own families had one thing in common: Their lives had fallen apart at two levels. Their partner had left them and, at the same time, they had lost their jobs or were in serious financial difficulties.
SPIEGEL: The same thing can happen to women.
Kastner: Yes, but then we tend to see mothers who become so depressed that they commit suicide and take their children with them. Among the men, I encountered almost no cases in which depressive illness was the underlying cause. Narcissistic disorders are more likely in these cases.
SPIEGEL: You describe how a woman regularly abused her 10-year-old son. In another case, a woman with sadistic tendencies held her daughter down while her boyfriend raped the child. Are the mothers just as guilty as the fathers?
Kastner: I never claim that only men are violent. With women, I have always had a problem with the notion of their looking the other way. This excuse that "I would be lost without him, which is why I couldn't do anything about it when he abused my child" is complete nonsense -- especially today, at a time when therapeutic and financial resources are made available to anyone. It makes my blood boil. The children suffer from the mother's betrayal almost as much as from the abuse itself. Our criminal laws pay insufficient attention to the moral culpability of mothers.
SPIEGEL: Isn't it possible that the mothers don't notice anything?
Kastner: When the mother says: "I didn't notice anything, because I was never home when it was happening," it's difficult to prosecute her. But it's preposterous to claim that a wife wouldn't notice a child being abused for four years in a 40-square-meter (430-square-foot) apartment.
SPIEGEL: You write about a generation-spanning tradition among fathers who exercise the "right of the first night" against their daughters ...
Kastner: Indeed. I encountered such cases again and again, in all social classes. The father believes that the daughter is his property, and that he is as entitled to her as he is to the biggest piece of meat on the table. And the mother covers it up. When a daughter comes to her and says: "Father did strange things to me," she replies: "Oh don't make such a fuss about it. My father did the same thing with me."
SPIEGEL: What's it like in these kinds of families? Can there be such a thing as normal life within the context of the inconceivable?
Kastner: There are these one-time rites of passage that are considered part of becoming an adult in some families. But there are also families in which a daughter is routinely abused for many years, and yet life in these families seems astonishingly normal. The child completely isolates the perverse things that are happening. I've spoken with many victims who said that they would simply lie there as if they were not even present. And when the right time came, they would switch back to reality. By compartmentalizing in this way, it was possible to go fishing with the father or go on family outings, and even to like him.
SPIEGEL: Isn't there something liberating for the women in the family when, after several generations, one of them finally stands up and defends herself?
Kastner: No, on the contrary. In these families, it is often the case that everyone joins forces to oppose the child who reports the father to the police. In this sense, female victims are now more emancipated than male victims. There are certainly many abused boys who rarely go to the police, because it's even more difficult to reconcile sexual abuse with the male self-image.
SPIEGEL: You became known as a result of a particularly repulsive case of incest. You wrote the psychiatric report on Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter for almost 24 years in a cellar. Wouldn't it have made more sense to write a book about that case?
Kastner: The Fritzl case is also a burden for me, because I am often associated exclusively with this case. Besides, do we have to satisfy every questionable voyeuristic interest? No one will become a better person by knowing how often Mr. Fritzl changes his socks.
SPIEGEL: In Fritzl's case, did you have the feeling that you understood him?
Kastner: Yes. What the Fritzl case boiled down to was that although I spoke to the man for 27 hours, I thought to myself, after the first five hours: I can understand and explain how he is wired.
SPIEGEL: So how is he wired?
Kastner: Based on his belief in an unlimited, sexualized exercise of power. He chased after girls in the park, raped a woman and locked up his daughter, and he always believed that he could get away with it. We are all familiar with this feeling to a lesser extent. It's a creeping feeling of self-corruption, based on the motto: Now that I've eaten the first piece of cake, it doesn't matter whether I eat another one.
SPIEGEL: Did Fritzl have any sense of guilt?
Kastner: He certainly knew that what he was doing was wrong. He once told me that it became more difficult every day to end the situation with his daughter. After a week, he thought that he ought to let her out, but then he asked himself: How will I explain this to my wife and everyone else? After that, he thought that he would have to wait until his daughter was so broken that he could be sure that she wouldn't tell anyone. But the longer he waited, the clearer it became to him that the best solution was simply to keep her in the dungeon.
SPIEGEL: In some of the media reports, it was suggested that Fritzl is a pretty clever guy…
Kastner: Oh, you would be surprised to know how little ingenuity it takes to do something this sinister. Fritzl is a technician who approached his actions with the precision of an accountant. I knew not to expect any sophisticated reflection from him, because it didn't happen. Fritzl is simple-minded. For him, everything is confined to one box. There is nothing else.
SPIEGEL: Was Fritzl your worst case?
Kastner: The chronological dimension was certainly unusual. But when it comes to the details I have encountered similarly horrific crimes.
SPIEGEL: You describe the case of a man named G., who beat his wife and abused the child, a baby, so severely that it later died. When you interviewed G. in prison, he portrayed himself as a persecuted innocent and bragged about his correspondence with a wealthy woman. How do you manage to remain calm in conversation with a man like that?
Kastner: I have to admit that I found him hard to tolerate, as a person. I try to be conscious of my own reactions, so as to prevent them from shaping my actions. I go there as a professional and not as a person with her own emotions. But I do notice that it's difficult for me to distance myself from some of these cases and remain objective.
SPIEGEL: Do the offenders try to manipulate you?
Kastner: Of course, again and again.
SPIEGEL: Do you notice something like that right away?
Kastner: No, I would be lying if I said that. But over the years I've certainly developed a sixth sense for things that seem a bit too smooth and pleasant, which make me professionally suspicious. You have to know the files well and prepare yourself well.
SPIEGEL: Your book is so full of abominations that one could lose one's faith in the good side of people. Have you already given up on humanity?
Kastner: Not at all. I deal with these cases every day, sometimes for 12 to 14 hours, and I've seen evil from almost every angle. I promised myself that if I ever notice that it's changing me, that it's making me depressed, resigned or cynical, I'll stop. But that isn't the case. I have honed my awareness and I'm probably far more curious than many others. Evil is part of human nature. It's better to recognize that fact.
Interview conducted by Frank Thadeusz.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
State child protection services placed 3 children with sex offenders (Victoria, Australia)
It seems that nothing that Child Protective (or Protection) Services does any more (or fails to do) can surprise me anymore. Do they go out of their way to recruit idiots and incompetents? We don't know how to do basic checks on carers? Are you kidding me?
Hat tip to Anonymum for finding this.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/6040118/child-placed-in-care-of-sex-offender/
Child placed in care of sex offender
ABC September 16, 2009, 4:05 pm
The Victorian Government has taken responsibility for failings in the state's child protection services that resulted in three children being cared for by sex offenders.
The ombudsman has identified cases where three children were either placed with, or left in, the care of a sex offender.
In one case, the Department of Human Services was repeatedly warned about the possibility of abuse to the child, but failed to act.
The ombudsman's annual report identifies numerous problems with Victoria's child protection services.
The ombudsman also found some DHS staff members do not know how to conduct basic checks on carers.
Premier John Brumby says he is deeply concerned by the ombudsman's findings, and steps will be taken to better protect children's interests.
"In the near future we will be announcing further initiatives and further policies to make sure that we don't have children that slip between the gaps and that children are given importance within the system and within Government that they rightfully deserve," he said.
Community Services Minister Lisa Neville says a full audit will be done.
"We do not want children placed in unsafe situations. That is why I've asked the secretary of the department to review each and every case, each and every child's case to ensure that no child has been placed in a situation where a police check has not been undertaken."
The Opposition's Mary Wooldridge says it shows the department is in crisis.
"This is a clear failure of the Government," she said.
"They've known about it for the last 10 years and they've failed to act and they've failed to protect Victoria's most vulnerable children."
The report says the DHS has reviewed the case in question and has improved training.
Hat tip to Anonymum for finding this.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/6040118/child-placed-in-care-of-sex-offender/
Child placed in care of sex offender
ABC September 16, 2009, 4:05 pm
The Victorian Government has taken responsibility for failings in the state's child protection services that resulted in three children being cared for by sex offenders.
The ombudsman has identified cases where three children were either placed with, or left in, the care of a sex offender.
In one case, the Department of Human Services was repeatedly warned about the possibility of abuse to the child, but failed to act.
The ombudsman's annual report identifies numerous problems with Victoria's child protection services.
The ombudsman also found some DHS staff members do not know how to conduct basic checks on carers.
Premier John Brumby says he is deeply concerned by the ombudsman's findings, and steps will be taken to better protect children's interests.
"In the near future we will be announcing further initiatives and further policies to make sure that we don't have children that slip between the gaps and that children are given importance within the system and within Government that they rightfully deserve," he said.
Community Services Minister Lisa Neville says a full audit will be done.
"We do not want children placed in unsafe situations. That is why I've asked the secretary of the department to review each and every case, each and every child's case to ensure that no child has been placed in a situation where a police check has not been undertaken."
The Opposition's Mary Wooldridge says it shows the department is in crisis.
"This is a clear failure of the Government," she said.
"They've known about it for the last 10 years and they've failed to act and they've failed to protect Victoria's most vulnerable children."
The report says the DHS has reviewed the case in question and has improved training.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Pieces from the life of a tortured daughter and her children (Austria)
Nearly every literate person has heard of dad JOSEF FRITZL, so I won't say anymore about him. Now we start to hear more about the survivors of his torture, and how they are having difficulty adjusting to seemingly benign things like sunlight and open spaces. Can't this dad be tried for war crimes? Not many prisoners of war endured conditions even approaching what this daughter and her children survived.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/police-begin-to-p.html-together-tortured-life-of-elisabeth-fritzl-14488993.html
Police begin to piece together tortured life of Elisabeth Fritzl
By Tony Paterson in Amstetten
Saturday, 12 September 2009
A shocking image of Elisabeth Fritzl – the 42-year-old victim of Austria's worst recorded case of multiple rape and incest – was published yesterday. It shows an elderly looking woman with crudely cut hair that has turned completely grey. She has a deeply-lined face and tight lips which, doctors say, conceal a mouth full of badly decaying teeth.
The drawing, published by the Austrian media, is said to be an "accurate artist's impression" of Elisabeth, based on interviews with doctors and police who have been caring for her since she escaped from the underground cell in which she was held captive for 24 years.
Elisabeth has not been seen in public since she was imprisoned in a windowless bunker beneath her father Josef's garden in 1984 and forced to become his sex slave. Fritzl, 73, who was arrested after apparently confessing to his crimes at the weekend, is in custody pending his trial.
Alois Lissl, the police chief of Upper Austria province, revealed that officers were investigating a possible link to the murder of Martina Posch, who was found on a shore of Lake Mondsee on 12 November 1986, because Frtizl could have been in the area at the "time and place" of the killing.
The artist's drawing of Elisabeth bears little similarity to the only photographs of her published to date – a black-and-white snap of a smiling teenager and a colour picture of her as a 14 year-old secondary school pupil. Observers say she now looks more like the sister of her mother, Rosemarie, who is 69.
Elisabeth spent yesterday with her mother, her children Stefan, 18, and Felix, five – who were held captive underground – along with two of her other daughters, now 15 and 14, and a son, 12, who were allowed to live "normal" lives in the house above the cellar.
The family are being cared for by psychiatrists and social workers in their home town of Amstetten, Lower Austria. She and her family are so traumatised and unused to open spaces or daylight that doctors have placed a cargo container outside their accommodation to allow them to withdraw into a confined space if they need to.
Elisabeth's 19-year-old daughter, Kersten, remains in a serious condition in hospital.
Leopold Etz, one of the police officers who freed Stefan and Felix from the bunker, said he was "staggered" to see the reactions of the children as they tried to adapt to their new surroundings, which they had previously only seen on television.
He added that the boys thought they were in heaven when they emerged, having been told by their mother that "heaven is up there".
Felix has been described as the livelier of the boys, but is also reluctant to leave his mother's side. He was said to have clapped his hands with joy when he saw a cow in a field and is fascinated by the sun and the moon.
Mr Etz said: "When the sunbeams struck his face, he squealed loudly." Yesterday, staff at the hospital caring for the children held an impromptu birthday party with a cake for the second-youngest child, 12-year-old Alexander.
Mr Etz also said that Stefan and Felix used animal-like language to communicate. "They speak with growls and coos. We cannot understand everything they say," he added.
Berthold Kepplinger, the director of the clinic where most of the victims are recovering from their ordeal, said the family members were "talking a lot" with each other. "The family is doing well under the circumstances," he said, considering they had to get accustomed to everyday conditions for others, such as daylight.
Further details of Elisabeth's ordeal, based on a lengthy interview she gave police, emerged yesterday. She had learnt to fear her domineering father from an early age and offered him what appeared to be total obedience. "I don't know why it was so, but my father simply chose me for himself," she told officers. She revealed that Fritzl began sexually abusing her from the age of 11 – in the cellar, in his car and on walks through the forest. Deeply ashamed and frightened of being found out, she did everything possible to hide the truth from her friends and classmates. A former pupil at her school recalled that Elisabeth was "terrified of not being home on time", adding: "When we went to her home, we had to leave as soon as her father appeared."
On two occasions, Elisabeth ran away from home but was picked up by police and sent back each time. In 1984, when she was 18, her father drugged her with ether and dragged her into the cellar, handcuffing her to a metal pole. He kept her in the dark for the first few weeks and visited her only to rape her or give her food. Elisabeth said she faced the choice of being left to starve or being raped.
As Elisabeth began to bear her father's children, Fritzl started improving the bunker and easing her regime. By the early 1990s, he apparently felt relaxed enough to go abroad. A private videotape, shot by one of his friends and released for the first time yesterday, showed Fritzl on a three-week holiday to Thailand in 1994, while his daughter and children were locked up below ground at home.
Questions were being raised over whether Fritzl used an accomplice to provide food for his prisoners during his three-week holidays. The door to the dungeon also weighed 300kg, indicating that hinging the door into place would have required the assistance of a third party.
Fritzl had told his wife that their daughter had run away to join a sect where there was "no room for children". Officers are convinced that Mrs Fritzl believed him.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/police-begin-to-p.html-together-tortured-life-of-elisabeth-fritzl-14488993.html#ixzz0QuOrWGOf
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/police-begin-to-p.html-together-tortured-life-of-elisabeth-fritzl-14488993.html
Police begin to piece together tortured life of Elisabeth Fritzl
By Tony Paterson in Amstetten
Saturday, 12 September 2009
A shocking image of Elisabeth Fritzl – the 42-year-old victim of Austria's worst recorded case of multiple rape and incest – was published yesterday. It shows an elderly looking woman with crudely cut hair that has turned completely grey. She has a deeply-lined face and tight lips which, doctors say, conceal a mouth full of badly decaying teeth.
The drawing, published by the Austrian media, is said to be an "accurate artist's impression" of Elisabeth, based on interviews with doctors and police who have been caring for her since she escaped from the underground cell in which she was held captive for 24 years.
Elisabeth has not been seen in public since she was imprisoned in a windowless bunker beneath her father Josef's garden in 1984 and forced to become his sex slave. Fritzl, 73, who was arrested after apparently confessing to his crimes at the weekend, is in custody pending his trial.
Alois Lissl, the police chief of Upper Austria province, revealed that officers were investigating a possible link to the murder of Martina Posch, who was found on a shore of Lake Mondsee on 12 November 1986, because Frtizl could have been in the area at the "time and place" of the killing.
The artist's drawing of Elisabeth bears little similarity to the only photographs of her published to date – a black-and-white snap of a smiling teenager and a colour picture of her as a 14 year-old secondary school pupil. Observers say she now looks more like the sister of her mother, Rosemarie, who is 69.
Elisabeth spent yesterday with her mother, her children Stefan, 18, and Felix, five – who were held captive underground – along with two of her other daughters, now 15 and 14, and a son, 12, who were allowed to live "normal" lives in the house above the cellar.
The family are being cared for by psychiatrists and social workers in their home town of Amstetten, Lower Austria. She and her family are so traumatised and unused to open spaces or daylight that doctors have placed a cargo container outside their accommodation to allow them to withdraw into a confined space if they need to.
Elisabeth's 19-year-old daughter, Kersten, remains in a serious condition in hospital.
Leopold Etz, one of the police officers who freed Stefan and Felix from the bunker, said he was "staggered" to see the reactions of the children as they tried to adapt to their new surroundings, which they had previously only seen on television.
He added that the boys thought they were in heaven when they emerged, having been told by their mother that "heaven is up there".
Felix has been described as the livelier of the boys, but is also reluctant to leave his mother's side. He was said to have clapped his hands with joy when he saw a cow in a field and is fascinated by the sun and the moon.
Mr Etz said: "When the sunbeams struck his face, he squealed loudly." Yesterday, staff at the hospital caring for the children held an impromptu birthday party with a cake for the second-youngest child, 12-year-old Alexander.
Mr Etz also said that Stefan and Felix used animal-like language to communicate. "They speak with growls and coos. We cannot understand everything they say," he added.
Berthold Kepplinger, the director of the clinic where most of the victims are recovering from their ordeal, said the family members were "talking a lot" with each other. "The family is doing well under the circumstances," he said, considering they had to get accustomed to everyday conditions for others, such as daylight.
Further details of Elisabeth's ordeal, based on a lengthy interview she gave police, emerged yesterday. She had learnt to fear her domineering father from an early age and offered him what appeared to be total obedience. "I don't know why it was so, but my father simply chose me for himself," she told officers. She revealed that Fritzl began sexually abusing her from the age of 11 – in the cellar, in his car and on walks through the forest. Deeply ashamed and frightened of being found out, she did everything possible to hide the truth from her friends and classmates. A former pupil at her school recalled that Elisabeth was "terrified of not being home on time", adding: "When we went to her home, we had to leave as soon as her father appeared."
On two occasions, Elisabeth ran away from home but was picked up by police and sent back each time. In 1984, when she was 18, her father drugged her with ether and dragged her into the cellar, handcuffing her to a metal pole. He kept her in the dark for the first few weeks and visited her only to rape her or give her food. Elisabeth said she faced the choice of being left to starve or being raped.
As Elisabeth began to bear her father's children, Fritzl started improving the bunker and easing her regime. By the early 1990s, he apparently felt relaxed enough to go abroad. A private videotape, shot by one of his friends and released for the first time yesterday, showed Fritzl on a three-week holiday to Thailand in 1994, while his daughter and children were locked up below ground at home.
Questions were being raised over whether Fritzl used an accomplice to provide food for his prisoners during his three-week holidays. The door to the dungeon also weighed 300kg, indicating that hinging the door into place would have required the assistance of a third party.
Fritzl had told his wife that their daughter had run away to join a sect where there was "no room for children". Officers are convinced that Mrs Fritzl believed him.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/police-begin-to-p.html-together-tortured-life-of-elisabeth-fritzl-14488993.html#ixzz0QuOrWGOf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)