An 81 year old man has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of sexually abusing the five year old daughter of his tenant, Phileleftheros reports.
It said that the child was sexually abused at least 16 times by the man over a five year period until her friend found out and police were alerted.
Nicosia Criminal Court on Thursday found him guilty on 16 counts — six for sexual exploitation of a child and 10 for sexual abuse of a child.
The court said the child’s nightmare started when her father was deported when she was five years old.
When her mother found out about the abuse, she told her daughter to avoid the defendant and not to tell anyone anything because she feared they would be kicked out of the house they were renting and they had nowhere else to go.
But when the little girl turned 10, she told other children who had gone to her house to celebrate her birthday and the the welfare service and police were alerted.
In passing sentence, the court noted the heavy toll the man’s actions had had on a little child. It said that the girl had difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, had nightmares, stress, anger, sadness, fear and constant anxiety that someone would find out and they would be made homeless.
Doctors also diagnosed her with acute post-traumatic stress.
In deciding on a three year jail sentence, the court took into consideration the man’s current serious health problems, the paper added.
