19 months in jail for a crime you didn't commit – because of her daughter

Why would a 15-year-old girl level what are arguably the most serious accusations imaginable against her own father? This question must remain unanswered, as access to the case files remains denied. And why the sudden retraction? This question, too, remains unanswered. For reasons that can no longer be reconstructed, the trial against the father last summer was not even listed on the court's mailing list provided to court reporters.

The father, now 43 years old, was arrested on March 29, 2007. His daughter—who had grown up with relatives and was brought to Switzerland by her parents in March 2000—claimed that, starting in April 2000, she had been repeatedly raped, sexually assaulted, and forced into sexual acts by her father. For the following six and a half years, she was also allegedly beaten several times a week, mostly for trivial reasons and sometimes for hours at a time, with fists, hands, belts, baseball bats, cooking utensils, slippers, her hair pulled, her head thrown against the wall, and kicked repeatedly. The documents also mention burns on her abdomen.

Despite appeal, still in custody

Fourteen months after the arrest, on June 11, 2008, this extremely serious case of domestic violence was scheduled to go to trial. The daughter appeared unannounced. And before the trial had even properly begun, it was already over. Out of the blue, the schoolgirl recanted all her statements in the courtroom. A conviction was no longer possible.

But an acquittal was also out of the question. The central question remained unanswered: When had the girl lied? When she made the accusations or when she retracted them? Until that was clarified, the father could not be released from pretrial detention.

"Highly differentiated" expert opinions

Prosecutor Markus Oertle questioned the daughter and several witnesses again. He also commissioned a credibility assessment to determine whether the girl's statements during the criminal investigation were credible. The resulting report, over 100 pages long and described by Oertle as "very detailed," confirmed the worst fears: the accounts of the sexual offenses contained strong signs of exaggeration, which severely limited the credibility of her statements.

The same applied to the alleged hours-long physical abuse. The expert also described the statements regarding various blows with objects as unrealistic, incomprehensible, or exaggerated in their reported frequency and regularity.

On November 3, 2008, 19 months after his arrest, the father was released from pretrial detention. In early January 2009, Oertle suspended a large part of the criminal proceedings. At the same time, he drafted a new indictment. It still included various corporal punishments, the descriptions of which by the girl, according to expert testimony, had a "real historical basis.".

Father paid daughter 1000 francs in compensation

The father did not deny repeatedly slapping his daughter or pulling her hair. This is why the case became public: at the end of October 2006, the girl collapsed at school and was taken to Triemli Hospital. Swelling on her chin and forearm, a bruise on her buttocks, and minor injuries to her lip were found. The man was recently sentenced by the district court to a suspended fine of 2,700 Swiss francs (90 daily rates of 30 francs) for simple assault and multiple counts of battery. In addition, the father must pay his daughter 1,000 francs in compensation.

For his daughter, now almost 18, who has lived in various social and educational institutions in recent years, the whole affair could prove considerably more costly. The 43-year-old lost his job as an orthopedic shoemaker, earning a monthly income of approximately 8,000 Swiss francs, due to his lengthy pretrial detention. He must be compensated for his wrongful imprisonment. He left Switzerland without his family, lives off his pension, and has no prospects for employment; in short, he has lost everything.

An expensive bill for the girl?

According to his lawyer, claims for compensation and damages will certainly amount to a six-figure sum. The public prosecutor's office will decide on this. Will the daughter have to pay for all of this? According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the costs can be "imposed in whole or in part on the complainant if they filed their complaint in a reprehensible or reckless manner." Criminal proceedings against the daughter have already been initiated by the juvenile prosecutor's office. The charges: false accusation and obstruction of justice. (Tages-Anzeiger)

VeV comment

It was only a few days ago that we published such a case from Germany here.

And here's the next case – this time from Switzerland.

The hysteria surrounding the topic of abuse today is leading to untenable conditions. Increasingly, allegations of abuse and violence are becoming a trump card in any legal dispute. Whether in labor law, marriage law, divorce law, family law, or anywhere else, whenever a woman raises an allegation of abuse or violence, a previously fair trial quickly turns into a relatively opaque gamble. At least for the man involved, because in most cases he can hardly defend himself against the prevailing societal prejudice and is helpless in the face of these often fabricated accusations. As long as our society believes in the image of the male perpetrator and the female victim, certain women, or rather their clever legal representatives, will continue to use this weapon.

Amidst all the suffering inflicted on the man in question, it is also easy to forget the devastating consequences this attitude has for the true victims of abuse.

They risk becoming increasingly unbelievable, as the abuse of abuse has increased to such an extent that the real victims are almost lost in it.

Let us hope that society will soon become more reasonable and learn that violence and abuse are human weaknesses, and not merely male failings!