Four more wanted in Limassol sexual crime case, welfare services under scrutiny

Police on Wednesday announced the arrest for sexual crimes of the 64-year-old man involved in the Limassol investigation, which had started off last week with the man reporting to authorities that he had been robbed by teens.

The case has pivoted with the man now arrested based on six charges, including sexual abuse, assault and abduction.

Commissioner for Children’s Rights Despo Michaelidou said the case has raised issues of concern as to how welfare services operate, though the police have been circumspect in issuing any information about those involved in the incident.

The case is extremely sensitive, police spokesman Christos Andreou told the CyBC, and the four-day delay in the man’s arrest was due to police seeking to secure testimony against him.

The 64-year-old victim-turned-suspect is currently being held under guard at a private hospital where he was arrested, having gone to the premises for a medical intervention which was not immediately carried out.

He is expected to be brought before the Limassol district court for closed door proceedings within the day.

The case has been split into two investigations, one concerning the man’s filing a report of robbery and the other concerning his relationship with three young girls, following testimony secured against him by an 18-year-old woman, who had initially been uncooperative, Andreou said.

Four additional arrest warrants have meanwhile been issued for the case, for three adults in their 20s and one 17-year-old, police said. The latter has been arrested and taken into custody overnight.

The children’s rights commissioner has requested a full report from all services involved and had said that should the girls be prosecuted they should be given all necessary support.

She also spoke about problem situations at state housing facilities, as far as understaffing, lack of training and the fact that underage residents are free to come and go, suggesting that a measure should be put in place for police to be informed of their whereabouts.

Delays in reporting persons as missing and in securing appointments with staff are also a problem, she said.

Elsewhere, unanswered questions have been raised about the exact number or persons involved in the incident and whether organised trafficking was involved.

Three girls had been previously arrested, and on Tuesday police also obtained warrants for two young men who had accompanied the girls, aged 15, 16 and 18, to site where the man was allegedly robbed and attacked.

The two girls initially arrested, aged 15 and 16, are seen as vulnerable individuals and are now under the observation of a psychiatrist called in by the police.

They are expected to give videotaped testimonies on what happened.

According to the initial reports, the 64-year-old man had been lured around the back of a fast-food restaurant, after meeting with the 16-year-old girl in his hotel. He was there met by four other young people who arrived in a car.

The 64-year-old first presented as a robbery victim, claiming he had been punched in the face, and that his wallet, which contained €5,000 in cash and his identity card, had been stolen by the teens.