A 42-year-old mother accused of domestic violence against her 24-year-old and 15-year-old daughters in Heraklion, Crete, has been released under restrictive conditions. The mother was specifically ordered not to leave the country, to report to a police station regularly, and to stay away from her minor children. The 42-year-old mother from the village of Messara and her 54-year-old husband were arrested and face serious charges related to the abuse (including sexual abuse by the father) of two of their children: the 15-year-old and the 24-year-old who has moderate intellectual disabilities.
Read: Rape of Girls in Crete: Mother Before Investigator – When Father Who Allegedly Impregnated Daughter Will Testify
The mother appeared before judicial officials on Friday afternoon to give her testimony and was ultimately released under conditions with the agreement of both the investigator and prosecutor.
“This is a fair decision, as there was insufficient evidence of guilt for abusive behavior on the part of this particular defendant,” said Yannis Chatzidakis, defense attorney for the 42-year-old.
The other defense attorney, Lefteris Kartsonas, noted that during her testimony the 42-year-old did not accept the charges against her and that “there is no actual incident that could establish suspicion of guilt for these specific crimes.”
Kartsonas also noted that “there is no public official who has testified in this case and said anything incriminating about the accused parents,” while commenting that the defense will request psychiatric evaluations of all family members “because in our opinion this has not been thoroughly investigated and is a critical parameter for establishing the credibility of each alleged witness.”
Father to testify on Monday
The 54-year-old father, who faces charges including continuous rape of a minor and sexual acts with a minor, was granted an extension and will testify next Monday at 11 AM.
Specifically, the father is accused of continuous rape of his 24-year-old disabled daughter as well as sexual acts with a minor, physical harm and threats.
The complaint that reached authorities
Everything was revealed last Tuesday when the girls’ brother went with the 15-year-old and 24-year-old – who has intellectual disabilities – to the Lasithi police station and reported that their father was raping and abusing them.
According to the complaint, the father committed indecent acts against both girls from 2024 until just days before the report.
The girls spoke to their brother during a family visit to Lasithi where he stays for the holidays.
It should be noted that they also accused the father of impregnating his 23-year-old daughter with intellectual disabilities, who gave birth and the child was given for adoption to a family outside Crete.
