Antalya Court Sentences Man to 30 Years Prison for Sexual Abuse of 12-Year-Old Child

Antalya 3rd Heavy Penal Court sentenced O.E. (47), who is accused of sexually abusing the 12-year-old daughter of a woman he lived with in a religious marriage for one year, to 30 years in prison. The court initially imposed an 18-year base sentence on the defendant; the court increased the sentence to a final 30 years due to the use of threats and the commission of the crime on multiple occasions.

According to the investigation by Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the defendant O.E. committed the abuse while the child's mother and sibling were sleeping; he gave money to the child to keep silent, threatened to kill the mother, and exploited the child's fear of being sent to an orphanage. The child first told her mother what happened, and then told her school guidance counselor. As part of the investigation, the testimony of the school guidance counselor was also used; the teacher confirmed in court that the student had directly told her about the abuse.

During the statement taken at the Child Monitoring Center, the abuse was described in detail. In the Chief Public Prosecutor's indictment, the statements of the child and mother were evaluated together with witness testimonies; in addition to the prison sentence, a restriction on the right to hold public office was also requested. The defendant O.E., who is currently in prison for another crime, did not attend the verdict hearing.