A 56-year-old man was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison, who sat on the bench of the Mixed Jury Court of Thessaloniki, accused of for five years he sexually abused his girlfriend’s underage daughter and photographed her naked.

The judges, regular and jury, judged him unanimously guilty of rape and abuse of a minoras well as, by majority, for child pornographywith the recognition of a mitigating factor (previous cohabitation), while they decided the appeal shall have no suspensive force in the execution of the sentenceas a result of which the 56-year-old remains in Grevena prison, where he has been held since last May.

The case reached the Court, when, three years ago, the 25-year-old, now a patient, while attending sessions with a psychologist, found the strength to reveal what she experienced as an elementary school student at the hands of the accused.

The acts in question, as she later complained in her lawsuit, happened repeatedly between 2006 and 2010. According to the case file, the 56-year-old physiotherapist seems to have taken advantage of the friendly relations he maintained with the mother of the complainant and the hospitality he enjoyed at times from her.

It is typical that after the complaint, the defendant allegedly sent a video to the victim, through an online application, in which he confessed his actions, asking at the same time for forgiveness for the harm he caused her.

The disputed video – in fact – was shown during the multi-day hearing, with the defense however disputing that its content referred to the acts in question and generally maintaining a negative attitude towards the indictment.

At the time of his apology, the 56-year-old chose not to join the court, although in all the previous trials he had a physical presence in the room.

The judicial investigation, it should be noted, finally, began with a European search warrant, as at that time the convicted person was living in Germany.