Father sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for prolonged sexual abuse of autistic son

Lefkoşa – The Lefkoşa Assize Court has sentenced a father to 30 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting his own autistic biological son over a period of seven years starting when the boy was just three years old.

The verdict delivered on Thursday August 14 marks the conclusion of a case that began in early 2021, with hearings commencing in 2022. 

The offences were committed between 2014 and 2015 at the family’s home in Lefkoşa. Due to the victim’s young age, the trial was held behind closed doors. The boy, now a teenager, testified in court from behind a screen to avoid direct contact with the defendant identified only as  F.G.

The panel, chaired by Judge Fadıl Aksun and including Senior Judge Şerife Kâtip and Judge Murat Soytaç, reached a unanimous decision. Aksun stated that the court was convinced “beyond reasonable doubt” of the defendant’s guilt, citing both physical evidence and the fact that F.G. was the only adult who could have committed the offences.

In delivering the judgment, Aksun stressed the heightened severity of the crime given the victim’s autism and vulnerability: “Children are the most defenceless members of society, and it is our duty to protect them. This victim suffered the gravest harm not from an outsider, but from his father — the one person who should have been his shield from all dangers. A father’s arms should be the safest harbour for his child, yet in this case, they became the hands that stole his joy and destroyed his life. Instead of being his hero, the defendant became his worst nightmare.”

Aksun condemned the exploitation of the boy’s condition, noting that “an autistic child’s silent cries were silenced by the very person he opened his arms to in hope of love.”

“A father’s love should light up the darkness in his autistic child’s world, yet this defendant extinguished that only source of light. While a father should drown in a single tear of his child, this man caused floods to pour from his eyes,” Aksun said.

Given the gravity of the offences, the court imposed one of the heaviest sentences available — 30 years’ imprisonment.