Today, a verdict was handed down in the shocking case of the perpetrator from Gaiki near Głogów. As reported by glogow.naszemiasto.pl:

37-year-old Mateusz J. was sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also awarded PLN 500,000 in compensation for the harm suffered. The defendant was additionally banned from approaching the victim for 15 years.

Moreover, as the aforementioned portal adds, at the end of the hearing the second judge, Witold Wojtyło, ordered the defendant to stand and said to him: – In all my time as a judge, I have never encountered a person who caused so much evil.

We reported extensively on the case last year. On May 12, 2025, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica filed an indictment against 33-year-old Mateusz J., who had subjected a 31-year-old woman to particularly cruel abuse for four years in Gaiki near Głogów. – The aforementioned man deprived the woman of her freedom by keeping her in a shed, raped, beat and humiliated her, causing her serious bodily injuries – said Liliana Łukasiewicz, press spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica, at the time.

Mateusz J. was charged with depriving the victim of her liberty in Gaiki near Głogów between July 2020 and August 27, 2024, in a manner involving particular torment, taking advantage of her helplessness due to her mental state at the time. Against her will, he kept her in an outbuilding locked from the outside with a padlock, without windows or regular access to natural daylight, heating, water or a toilet. The said room was located on his private family property.

Furthermore, according to investigators, J. restricted the victim’s access to other rooms, water, a toilet and hygiene products, and at his own discretion rationed her access to food and drinks, as well as electricity, heating and other utilities and means of communication, including a telephone.

What is more, he subjected her to particularly cruel psychological and physical abuse: he beat her on the body with his fists, a rubber garden hose, a board, a wooden club and a lamp; kicked and choked her; pushed and shook her; twisted her arms; pulled her hair; isolated her from other people; humiliated and verbally abused her; took her outside wearing a forcibly placed balaclava over her head; maliciously shaved her head; and constantly controlled all her behavior. As a result, he drove the woman to attempt suicide in July 2024.

Spokesperson:

During this period, moreover, repeatedly, at his own discretion and against the victim’s will, using violence and unlawful threats of beating, causing bodily harm or taking her life, he forced the victim to engage in sexual intercourse and also forced her to submit to and perform other sexual acts. On at least two occasions he recorded this using a mobile phone, and he also caused the aforementioned woman bodily injuries:
  • on August 6, 2023 – injuries constituting a life-threatening illness, requiring life-saving hospital treatment and specialized medical procedures, which, had medical assistance not been provided or had it been delayed, would undoubtedly have led to the victim’s death;
  • on August 25, 2024 – in the form of a head injury and injury to the left shoulder joint, which led to paresis of two fingers, resulting in impaired health and disruption of the functioning of her bodily organs for a period exceeding seven days (…).

The victim and the defendant met in 2018 on an online dating site. They began seeing each other. At the time, the victim lived in Leszno with her parents and her two minor children. Prosecutor: – Among other things, due to her relationship with the defendant, who treated her badly from the outset, and because of neglecting her parental responsibilities, the woman moved to an intervention and readaptation center in January 2020. At the turn of June and July 2020, because she could not find work, Mateusz J. offered that she could live on his family farm, provided that his parents did not find out about it. The victim accepted the offer.

She added: – From the moment the woman was placed in the shed, the defendant began treating her as an object – as someone who was supposed to satisfy his sexual whims at any time. The victim became completely psychologically and physically dependent on him.

During the relationship, in November 2020, the aforementioned woman gave birth to the defendant’s child, whom she gave up for adoption at the hospital. After giving birth, she returned to the shed where she had previously been held.

During the period of her imprisonment, Mateusz J. repeatedly, at his own discretion and against the victim’s will, using violence and unlawful threats of beating, causing bodily harm or taking her life, forced the said victim to engage in sexual intercourse.

At least once – on August 6, 2023 – during sexual intercourse, Mateusz J. used a dangerous object against the aforementioned woman, causing her serious bodily injuries that required medical intervention.

The defendant took the victim to a hospital in Głogów, where, despite being questioned, the woman did not complain about Mateusz J. to any member of the medical staff. She then returned with Mateusz J. to the property in Gaiki.

The defendant’s treatment of the victim continuously worsened. His demands regarding the fulfillment of his sexual fantasies grew, and he responded to refusal with increased aggression and violence.

On August 25, 2024, after causing the woman a head injury and dislocating her left shoulder joint, the defendant once again took her to the hospital in Głogów. It was only during this stay – after staff at the medical facility persuaded her to talk – that she spoke for the first time about her situation over the previous four years, the abuse inflicted on her by the defendant and the sexual violence used against her.

Mateusz J. was arrested immediately afterward and subsequently placed in pre-trial detention.

When questioned as a suspect, Mateusz J. denied committing the crime he was accused of, claiming that nothing had happened without the victim’s consent.

Investigators:

A probation interview indicates that the suspect has a relatively average reputation both in his place of residence and among those close to him. He is not addicted to alcohol or psychoactive substances. In the period immediately preceding his arrest, he was unemployed. He helped his parents. He lived alone and avoided company.

Court-appointed psychiatrists found no mental illness or intellectual disability in the defendant and ruled out other mental disorders that could be relevant to assessing his criminal responsibility. They nevertheless found that Mateusz J. displayed psychopathic personality traits involving an extremely egocentric and selfish attitude, treating people instrumentally and showing complete disregard for their feelings.

The psychological and sexological assessment found, among other things, that the defendant exhibited psychopathic personality disorder and a sexual preference disorder in the form of sadism.

Prosecutor’s Office:

Experts concluded that the defendant must undergo appropriate personality-disorder therapy and sexological therapy while still in prison. There is a high probability that, if released, Mateusz J. could commit similar acts again—against life, health and sexual freedom. In his current mental state, Mateusz J. is capable of participating in criminal proceedings and standing trial.

The offenses charged against Mateusz J. carried a sentence of between 5 and 30 years’ imprisonment.