Longer prison sentence for child abuser

On appeal, the Supreme Court has extended the sentence of a man earlier convicted for “extremely vile” crimes of sexually abusing three children for another five years to a total of 15.

Issuing an announcement on Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that it approved an appeal filed by Attorney General George Savvides, who viewed the 10-year concurrent prison sentence handed down to the perpetrator by the Nicosia criminal court as “blatantly inadequate.”

The ruling was issued on 7 February, adding another five-year prison term for charges for which the defendant had been found guilty and should not be carried concurrently with the 10-year sentence handed down for other offences.

The man will now serve 15 years in prison.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that aggravating factors, including the repeated abuse of the three minors, made the case “extremely abhorrent”.

The Supreme Court stressed the importance of passing down deterring sentences for such crimes.

For the state prosecution, the case was argued by Mikaela Pashardes, Senior Counselor of the Republic.