A Vienna court acquitted a 17-year-old Syrian migrant accused of coercing a 12-year-old into sexual acts.

„The world is collapsing before us. It’s a slap in the face to my child and all the other victims who have experienced something like that,” said the devastated mother of a 12-year-old girl. Her reaction came after a court acquitted a 17-year-old migrant accused of raping her daughter. The schoolgirl met the accused through Snapchat and was led to a parking lot in the Austrian capital where prosecutors argue she was forced to perform oral sex on the migrant. As evidence of the manipulation and rape, they cited the fact that the accused pushed the girl’s head towards his genitals and later called her a „whore”.

However, the Vienna regional court ruled that there was insufficient proof of violence, acquitting the defendant of rape. The judge took the view that the migrant could have assumed that the 12-year-old girl did this voluntarily. Speaking to the daily Heute, the heartbroken mother recounted the toll the case has taken on her family. „My daughter doesn’t deserve this,” she said in tears in the courtroom. She described how the schoolgirl now struggles with severe emotional and physical symptoms.

„My daughter’s life is ruined, but I will not stop until justice is done,” the mother added.

The defense’s offer of 100 euros as a „gesture of goodwill” added further fuel to public outrage, with many viewing it as an insult to the victim and her family.