A 70-year-old man from a village in Mytilini has been charged with raping three young siblings who were under his care.
According to local media, the man was a sports trainer and many young students had complained to police about being harassed, but no charges had been laid, and the man continued his assaults, including the rape of three minors.
A 20-year prison sentence was handed to the 70-year-old yesterday by the Joint Court of Appeal on the island of Chios, where the case was heard.
During the trial, the three children, who spent a lot of time at the rapist’s house, spoke of the sexual, physical and mental abuse they had encountered for over a year, saying the 70-year-old tortured them and told them they would be taken away by authorities and would never see their mother again if they reported him to police.
The man denied the accusations, telling judges and prosecutors he had never harmed a child in his life.
According to police, the children didn’t have a relationship with their father and the mother who cared for the kids had a special bond with the 70-year-old man, trusting the children in his care and even allowing him to take them on holidays.
In court, the mother said "the children had told me something," but claims she was not clear of what was going on.
The complaint against the 70-year-old was reportedly made by residents of the area and that is when police spoke with the three children who finally opened up about the abuse. They were medically examined and found to have been both physically and sexually assaulted.
