A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail after having been found guilty of sexually molesting his two nephews.

In handing down the sentence, Nicosia criminal court noted that the crimes in question were particularly egregious, given that the defendant “took advantage of the love and trust of the plaintiffs, his nephews, and engaged in repugnant acts which can only cause revulsion in any sane person.”

The severity of the sentence also took into account the age difference between the defendant and the second plaintiff; at the time the sexual abuse began, the boy was only six years old, while the uncle was aged 25.

In the case of the second plaintiff, the abuse started in September 2006 and lasted until 2009. The crimes occurred at the boy’s grandmother’s house in Nicosia, where the uncle also stayed, though in a separate bedroom.

The boy first revealed the abuse to his mother in August 2018. The court also heard how the victim had suffered acute mental distress and had tried to commit suicide on three occasions.

In the case of the other boy, who was nine years old at the time, the sexual abuse of his uncle took place on weekends when they both stayed at the boy’s grandfather’s house, sharing the same bedroom.

The family filed a complaint to the police in January 2019.

In a separate trial, Limassol criminal court sentenced a 29-year-old man to three-and-a-half years in prison, having found him guilty of soliciting a minor for sexual purposes.

The man had been arrested on January 3 this year. The complaint was filed by the 14-year-old girl’s mother.

The defendant had made contact with the 14-year-old on a social media platform, and had tried to arrange a meeting with her for sexual purposes.