Iraqi refugee raped 10-year-old boy at Austrian swimming pool

Police arrested the man at the scene and the child was later hospitalised with severe injuries

Austrian police did not initially release details of the rape, which took place on 2 December at the Theresienbad pool Thomas Ledl/Wikimedia Commons

An Iraqi refugee raped a 10-year-old Austrian boy at a public swimming pool in Vienna, it has emerged.
The 20-year-old man dragged the boy into the changing rooms on 22 December, pulling down his swimming trunks and assaulting him, local newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported.
Afterwards, the boy alerted the lifeguard to what had happened, while the Iraqi man continued to swim in the pool and dive off the three-metre board.
Police arrested the man at the scene and the child was later hospitalised with severe injuries.
The man told police the attack was the result of a "sexual emergency" as he had not had sex in four months, according to Kronen Zeitung. He also claimed to have a wife and children in Iraq.
He also told police he knew it was "a huge mistake" and said he did not mean to "scar the boy".
When asked whether it was illegal to have sex with young boys in Iraq, the man said: "Such a thing is forbidden in any country in the world."
Austrian police did not initially release details of the rape, which took place on 2 December at the Theresienbad pool, in order to protect the victim.
When reports emerged on Facebook, police said they must be sensitive about cases involving refugees, who they said had "been through a lot" - but stressed there would be zero-tolerance for such acts.
Support for refugees in Europe has been falling following the New Year's Eve attacks on women in Cologne, research has suggested.
Male asylum seekers were banned from a pool in Germany following the attacks.