Austria

The gang allegedly sexually assaulted the woman, blackmailed her and forced her to pay for their food, taxis and cigarettes

A GANG of migrant teenage boys are on trial in Vienna accused of blackmailing, raping, and tormenting a teacher for months – before torching her flat in a bid to destroy the evidence.

The horrific case involves seven defendants aged between 14 and 17 who are alleged to have turned the 28-year-old woman into their personal victim through threats, intimidation, and violence.

RTL

The ordeal started in April 2024 when the woman had a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old former pupil.

The liaison was legal – he was over the age of consent and no longer at the school.

But the teenager bragged to his friends, and by May 2024, a group allegedly began turning up at the woman’s flat.

The teenagers – from Iraq, Romania and Afghanistan – allegedly claimed to be part of a criminal gang, threatened to expose the relationship, and pressured the woman to let them in.

At first, they used her home as a safe space for taking drugs, but the intimidation allegedly quickly escalated.

Prosecutors say the gang sexually assaulted the woman individually and in groups, blackmailed her with videos, and forced her to pay for their food, taxis and cigarettes.

They allegedly filmed encounters to use as leverage, threatening to reveal everything to her school.

The woman, terrified of losing her job and reputation, is said to have endured months of abuse between July 2024 and January 2025.

Filmed and blackmailed

Prosecutors say the teenagers didn’t just threaten – they filmed encounters and used the footage as blackmail. 

A Polaroid of a positive pregnancy test was allegedly brandished at one point to humiliate and control her. 

Fearing for her job and reputation, the woman is said to have felt trapped and paid to keep the torment going.

One defendant shrugged when asked about the arson, saying: “It wasn’t smart anyway.”

The prosecution painted the group as a violent youth gang – one with up to 70–80 associates and a taste for showing off criminal clips, from car break-ins to other offences.

Central to the trial is whether the teacher’s April 2024 relationship with a former pupil was consensual and legal – the prosecution says it was not a criminal offence because the boy was over the age of consent and no longer a pupil. 

The friendship opened the door to the rest of the group’s pressure campaign, prosecutors argue.

Investigators submitted a psychiatric report that links the assaults to chronic depression and PTSD – injuries the court treats as serious bodily harm. 

Phone records and other digital evidence, prosecutors say, show repeated visits and a concerted campaign of intimidation from May 2024 onwards.

The gang also siphoned cash and possessions from the teacher, prosecutors allege