Authorities across the board were on the defensive on Friday over their handling of a 64-year-old man arrested for sexual crimes against minors. The teenage girls believed to be victims of abuse were living in a Limassol shelter but were repeatedly reported missing, prompting a slew of questions over what the Social Welfare Services had done to protect them.

The Social Welfare Services, under scrutiny, issued a statement clarifying that the two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, had been missing from the shelter intermittently, not continuously and that “communication with them remained constant”.

The case came to light after the 64-year-old man reported a robbery, claiming that he had met one of the teenage girls in his hotel room, where he had €5,000 in cash. He alleged that the girl lured him out for food and that he was later ambushed, beaten and robbed.

The man is now facing kidnapping charges, and investigations are ongoing.

After its initial statement, the Social Welfare Services were not immediately available to comment to the Cyprus Mail over the fact that there was an evident issue of the teenagers frequently leaving the shelter.

Additionally, though the service confirmed they were in constant communication with the teenagers, it appears the young girls were in obvious danger, prompting questions over what was being done to protect them.

In its statement, the Social Welfare Service said police had been notified of their absence and a missing persons bulletin had been issued for them.

Using this data, Phileleftheros published a piece slamming the Social Welfare Services reporting that the two girls now under police investigation had repeatedly gone missing from their Limassol shelter. The most recent instance was reported on August 4.

One of the girls, aged 15, was found four days later, while the 16-year-old remained missing until her arrest – amounting to 19 days in which she was missing, according to the article.

Phileleftheros also reported that the police had no leads to locate the girl during her disappearance and that state services did not take adequate measures to prevent minors from going missing.

In response, the Social Welfare Services issued a statement dismissing these claims, saying that the girls had not been continuously missing and that the services had maintained contact with them in accordance with protocol, in cooperation with the authorities.

Police sources spoke to the Cyprus Mail and corroborated the version of events issued by the Social Welfare Services. Referring to the 16-year-old girl, the source said “she wasn’t missing continuously, she would go back every now and then.”

The Social Welfare Services has already requested a fact-finding report and referred the case to the Hope for Children NGO.

Phileleftheros’ report suggests that the two girls were involved with two individuals who are already in custody for the robbery initially reported by the 64-year-old. So far, six people have been detained in connection with the case, and an 18-year-old woman is wanted by the authorities.

In addition to the robbery, the police are investigating allegations of sexual abuse and harassment involving the two girls and an 18-year-old woman, with the robbery victim being the main suspect.

The commissioner for the protection of children’s rights highlighted that the problem with minors going missing from shelters is not new and children leave at will and are then reported as missing.

The Social Welfare Services, however said that allowing minors access to the outside world is essential for their socialisation and argue that they cannot keep them confined.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou has also responded to the criticism, after Disy MP Rita Superman slammed the force for moving to arrest what appeared to be victims of possible trafficking or abuse.

“This is unacceptable,” she said earlier this week.

Andreou called the criticism unfair, saying police acted immediately and explored all possible angles for the investigation, hence the quick involvement of the vulnerable persons unit.

The remand orders for the two minors and four adults involved are set to expire on Monday, at which point decisions will be made regarding the robbery aspect of the case.

The Social Welfare Services reiterated their ongoing efforts to find solutions that meet the needs of the children in their care. They also noted that most children in the shelters respond adequately and consistently to both individual and group programmes.

The services further mentioned that discussions have begun for the creation of a closed facility for children with special needs and that a specialised day centre had opened this year, the results of which will be evaluated and announced at a later date.