Rape conviction overturned because Austrian court 'didn't prove man realised the boy was saying no'

The man claimed he acted in a 'sexual emergency'. Photo / Thomas Ledl / Wikimedia Commons

An Iraqi refugee who was charged with raping a 10-year-old boy at a swimming pool has had his conviction overturned because a court didn't prove he realised the boy was saying no.

The man, identified as Amir A, 20, violently sexually assaulted the boy in the changing room of Theresienbad pool in Austria claiming it was a "sexual emergency" because he had not had sex for four months.

But an appeal court in the country accepted the defence lawyer's claim that the lower court had not done enough to prove he knew the schoolboy was saying no and overturned the conviction.

The attack happened last December when, as part of his integration process, Amir travelled with a 15-year-old helper and translator who was meant to be teaching him how to integrate into life in Vienna.

He seized his moment at the pool and dragged the boy into the changing rooms and locked the door before raping him.

The boy, known as Goran, required immediate medical treatment and has been suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Brazen predator Amir A even went back to the swimming pool after the rape and was playing on the diving board when police came to arrest him.

Confessing to the rape in an interview with officers, he said he knew what he did was wrong but did it anyway because it was a "sexual emergency" as he had gone four months without sex, according to the Local.

In the initial court hearing, he was found guilty of sexual assault and the rape of a minor and was sentenced to six years in jail.

But the Supreme Court rescinded the sentence and ordered a retrial. The court's president Thomas Philipp called the verdict "watertight" when it came to the sexual assault of a child, but said rape could not be sufficiently proved, said the Local.

The higher court said it should have been ascertained whether or not the victim agreed to the sexual act or whether Amir A had acted against the will of the boy.

A second trial for the rape is expected to take place next year, but the attacker is likely to remain in custody until then.