Eight years for sports coach for sexual abuse of minors

A 50-year-old track and field coach was on Thursday sentenced to eight years in jail for sexually abusing underage athletes.

The case involved four women who came forward in 2021, reporting the specific coach assaulted them years ago when they were minors.

These crimes occurred between 2003 and 2016 in Cyprus and Greece.

Despite the coach’s denial of the charges, the Nicosia criminal court found him guilty on March 15 of a total of ten charges including sexual abuse and indecent assaults against the underage athletes.

On Thursday, the judge handed down consecutive prison sentences to the man for each of the counts of sexual assault and indecent assault for which he was found guilty, amounting to a total of eight years.

Additionally, the criminal court issued an order for the defendant’s referral to the supervisory authority, which would apply both throughout his detention in the Central Prisons and for a period of three years after his release.

The court also prohibited the employment of the sentenced man in places where children are present or frequent.

In a statement announcing the decision, the court highlighted its duty to contribute to the protection of children from such unacceptable and abhorrent behaviours.

The court’s finding included that the underage complainants at the time considered the defendant as a role model and recognised paternal elements in him, relying on him to achieve their athletic goals. It added that the complainants had emotional dependence on him, given their vulnerability due to their family circumstances, resulting in sports being their outlet.

The defendant, exploiting his position as a coach was inappropriately touching the girls, presenting it as necessary for their athletic performance, the court said.

Moreover, as noted by the court, their dependence on the defendant was one of the main reasons for the delay in reporting the case.

After the complainants reported the case to the police, the defendant contacted some of them in an attempt to prevent the case from proceeding, leading to a request from the Legal Service for his detention due to the risk of influencing witnesses.

Taking into account that the aforementioned offences were committed against four then-underage athletes, at different times over a period of 12 years, the criminal court imposed consecutive prison sentences on the individual. It noted that non-consecutive prison sentences would be inadequate.

The case had been investigated by the police division combating human trafficking.

It came to light after sports shooter Andri Eleftheriou filed a police complaint saying she had been harassed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and in Peking in 2008 by a man who held a “position of authority”.

Eleftheriou had then called on others to come forward with their stories, prompting a significant response. This wave of sexual harassment revelations began in Greece, with Olympic gold medalist Sophia Bekatorou’s revelation of her assault by a senior official in the Hellenic Sailing Federation (HSF) in 1998.