Court acquits parents of baby abuse charges

A court has acquitted the parents of a baby who suffered multiple injuries, ORF reported. The parents were cleared of charges of causing serious bodily harm after the court found it could not establish which of them was responsible. The verdict is final.

Prosecutors had accused the 39-year-old father of directly abusing the child and the 30-year-old mother of contributing by failing to prevent her partner’s attacks. “One of the two did it,” the judge said at the end of the trial, but added that the perpetrator could not be identified.

The baby girl, who was only a few months old at the time, had her legs twisted on at least two occasions, resulting in multiple fractures. A forensic doctor told the court the injuries were caused by “rotating and swinging movements” and that the painful fractures were undoubtedly the result of violence inflicted by another person.

Both parents maintained, as they had at the start of the trial in late May, that they had not harmed their child and could not explain the injuries. The father said he was “definitely innocent” and called the accusation scandalous. The mother said she had “made sure that my child was well.”

The couple met while the man was on temporary release from prison. His criminal record includes four convictions for various violent offences, and he served a longer prison sentence until March 2025. The child was conceived during a prison furlough or temporary release, and he was allowed to attend the birth. From autumn 2024, he spent three out of every four weekends each month with his partner before returning to prison on Sunday evenings.

Prosecutors believed the violence against the baby had taken place during weekends. In mid-February 2025, the mother took the child to a paediatrician, who immediately sent the baby to hospital. Doctors found several recent injuries as well as older fractures.

The man was nevertheless convicted in a separate case involving violence against his former partner. He received a nine-month unconditional prison sentence for hitting her hard in the face. That verdict is also final.

The couple have since separated, and the girl, now almost two years old, lives with foster parents. Forensic doctor Christoph Reisinger said the child had recovered physically from the injuries as far as could be expected. “There are no serious lasting consequences, and none are expected in the future,” he said.