Artist Gunkl faces up to five years, women accused of up to ten years in custody

Prosecutors in Vienna have filed charges against artist Günther “Gunkl” Paal for allegedly kissing a minor’s naked genitals and for possessing a large collection of child-sexual abuse images, offenses that carry a statutory penalty of six months to five years. The child's mother and grandmother, both Slovak nationals described as sex workers, are charged with severe extortion, a crime that can merit up to ten years in prison, and are currently held in investigative detention due to concerns they might destroy evidence.

Unlike Paal, who turned himself in and allowed police to search his residence, the two women were arrested after attempts to transfer a large sum of money at the main train station and upon the grandmother’s return to Vienna. All three defendants have entered varying degrees of confession, but the court will still need to assess their guilt. The indictment will be reviewed for fourteen days before the case proceeds to a trial, where a decision will be made whether to try the defendants together or separately.