Austrian officer jailed for abuse of office in Natascha Kampusch probe

VIENNA (AFP) - An Austrian police officer who conducted an illegal probe into the case of kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch was found guilty of abuse of office on Monday and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

The unnamed officer was sentenced after he tried to obtain a girl's DNA - without a court order - from an elementary school in Vienna to prove she was Kampusch's daughter.

The Vienna court found that he overstepped his rights during his investigation, which he carried out in 2011 and 2012.

Kampusch was kidnapped off a Vienna street in 1998 aged 10 and kept in a basement until she re-emerged in 2006, in a case that made headlines around the world.

She has always said that her kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil, who killed himself on the day she escaped, acted alone.

But several investigators have expressed doubts about her version of the events.

The 63-year-old police officer, who has been suspended, said he wanted to prove the child was Kampusch's and that the girl had also been sexually abused by alleged accomplices of Priklopil.

He can still appeal the ruling.

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