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- Ελληνικά
A total sentence of 8 years imprisonment was imposed today by the Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court on a coach for offences of sexual abuse/exploitation of children and indecent assault, stressing the duty of the Court to help protect children from such unacceptable and abhorrent behaviour.
The Court of Cassation, taking into account that these offences were committed against four then underage female athletes at different times over a period of 12 years, imposed consecutive prison sentences on him, noting that not imposing consecutive prison sentences would not reflect the overall criminality of his conduct. The Court of Cassation also issued an order for the defendant to be referred to the Supervision Authority, which would apply both throughout his detention in the Central Prison and for a period of 3 years after his release, as well as an order prohibiting him from being employed in places where children are present or frequented.
The accused was found guilty, following a hearing, on a total of 10 charges with four of his former female athletes complaining, who at the time of the offences were minors and without sexual experience prior to the accused's unlawful acts. The Court's finding was that the then minor complainants held the defendant as a role model and recognised in him elements of a father figure and that they relied on him to achieve their sporting goals. The accused, taking advantage of the fact that as a coach he also provided sports massage services to his female athletes, carried out touching of a sexual nature to the detriment of the complainants, representing to them that what he was doing was necessary for their sporting performance.
The defendant, as stated in the Court's judgment, abused his position as a coach and the emotional and real dependence on him of the complainants, of whom he was aware of their vulnerability due to their family circumstances, with the result that sport was their outlet. Moreover, as the Court notes, their dependence on the accused was one of the main reasons why there was a delay in reporting the case to the police, but that cannot be regarded as a mitigating factor in cases where there is a relationship of trust or influence between the victim and the perpetrator.
It is noted that after the complainants reported to the Police, the accused, while the case was pending before the Court, contacted some of them in order to prevent the case from proceeding, and as a result, at the request of the Legal Service, he was taken into custody due to the risk of influencing witnesses.
(BL)
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