AKEL MP Irene Charalambidou yesterday said she was shocked to hear a man who admitted to sexually assaulting a young girl had been released by police, following an intervention from an unnamed politician.
“It is with great alarm that we heard that a person who allegedly admitted to a sexual crime against a minor - where the perpetrator had a relationship of trust and was part of the victim’s family - was released from custody, when the customary procedure is to send him to court to be remanded so as to avert further contact with the victim or the victim’s family,” said Charalambidou. She said this was to avoid the risk of evidence being destroyed or the family being threatened by the suspect.
Charalambidou said her party was aware of details, which she would not release in order to protect the victim.
“We do not want to believe information that for such a serious crime, interventions were made by political persons, resulting in the necessary procedures not being followed,” she said.
“At the moment, the victim and any other minor are exposed to the perpetrator, who is moving around freely in danger of repeating the crime he allegedly admitted to,” she added.
Charalambidou said she was expecting the police, child commissioner and all other related departments to immediately intervene.
“Society and the lawmaking authority also need to react straight away and offer further means to deal with crimes against minors,” she said. “We are repeating our plea for swift approval of the law proposal we submitted for crimes against minors and legally regulating checking mechanisms for paedophiles.”