One of the more shocking domestic violence cases in recent memory continued to played out in Greece this week, with a serving police officer in Athens accused of horrific and repeated sexual abuse of four of his five pre-teen children.
The man, who serves in the more prestigious Parliament guard, is accused of not only sexually abusing his children but of forcing their 35-year-old mother, also a police officer, to engage in acts of incest.
The 45-year-old suspect, who remains under police guard at an Athens-area psychiatric ward, is scheduled to face an investigating magistrate on Tuesday for his initial statements in relation to more than a dozen felony charges filed against him.
The case has rekindled debate and media scrutiny over internal procedures to root out and cashier rogue law enforcement officers, as the suspect had been reprimanded by his superiors, suspended from the force or even convicted of misdemeanors by the courts more than 10 times in the past for violent behavior.
His first disciplinary reprimand came in 2002 for assaulting a taxi driver, followed by an assault against a 17-year-old who allegedly hadn’t paid a bus fare. He was convicted by a civil court in the latter case.
Another assault incident followed in 2003, resulting in a one-year suspension from Greek Police (EL.AS). A fight with a fellow police officer, while on duty, was recorded in 2008.
A first investigation for domestic violence commenced in January 2024, with a first conviction for threats of domestic violence handed down last month – along with a 12-month suspended sentence before appeal. His service weapon was also confiscated.
Media reports circulating in the Greek capital this week referred to serious psychological disorders detected in the man, as far back as 2008. Nevertheless, despite a sullied record and negative psychological evaluations, he served as the driver and in the security detail of three top police commanders at the Athens headquarters (GADA). After 2019 he was transferred to Parliament’s police guard, in large part due to state benefits allocated to parents of large families.
The first accusation of domestic violence made by his wife, who is pregnant with her sixth child, was withdrawn.
Interviews by court-appointed child psychologists are pending for the family’s children, while authorities are continuing to scour cell phones and other devices for digital evidence of wrongdoing.
In an emotional statement to a local television station on Monday, the suspect’s mother – who was not identified by name or likeness – lamented that she “gave birth to a monster…for me today is his funeral. I ask for forgiveness from the children.”
