Court in Legnica sentences man to life for imprisoning and abusing woman he met on dating app for four years.
Verdict in Mateusz J. Case
According to Interia, the District Court in Legnica delivered a verdict for Mateusz J., who for four years (between 2020 and 2024) held a woman he met on a dating site in a cell and abused her with particular cruelty. The man was sentenced to life imprisonment.
“He deprived the victim of liberty in a manner connected with particular torment, taking advantage of her then psychological state, by holding her against her will in a locked-out utility room without a window and without access to natural daylight, heating, water, or a toilet, which room was located on his private family property, limiting the victim’s access to other rooms, to water, to the toilet, to hygiene products, and regulating at his own discretion her access to food and drinks, as well as to electricity, heating, and other media and means of communication, including the telephone, and also abused her psychologically and physically with particular cruelty, and also forced the victim to sexual intercourse, and also caused (…) bodily injuries” – stated the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica in a communique.
Victim’s Ordeal
Mateusz J. was said to have met his victim on a dating app and then offer her accommodation on his property. When she agreed, due to her difficult life situation, he began to imprison her.
The epoznan.pl portal reports that in 2020 the woman gave birth to a child, which was placed for adoption, and after childbirth she was again placed in the cell. Three years later, the woman was admitted to the hospital due to injuries sustained, but did not reveal her situation to the staff. She told doctors about the ordeal she was experiencing only a year later, during her next stay at the facility.
Family and Neighbors React
The parents of Mateusz J., who lived with him, were also said to not be aware that the woman was being held. “It’s really hard for all of us to believe this. He didn’t look like someone who could hurt someone. He’s a good boy. There were no problems with him at home, but outside the home, I don’t know” – the man’s mother told journalists in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Neighbors, however, described Mateusz J. as a “weirdo”. “He inspired fear. He would stand in front of a person and start staring at them. He didn’t say anything, just stood like that. A person would turn around and walk away. But that he would do more, no” – one of the women told the newspaper.
