Greece, Priest Arrested for Raping Albanian Minor
A 37-year-old priest has been arrested in Greece on charges of raping an Albanian minor girl for several years. It is learned that the denunciation was made by the 17-year-old Albanian herself who was sexually abused.
In the 17 pages of testimony that the minor gave on November 9, 2021, in the presence of a psychologist, she confessed the nightmare she experienced. The minor described in detail the horrific acts by the 37-year-old priest of the church of Kato Patisia, married and the father of three children.
"When I started going to high school, I no longer participated in catechism. I told my mom I did not want to go anymore and it was the period when the pandemic started and I was home alone. I cried every day out of fear, I did not know what to do. This one raped not only my body but also my soul."
According to the girl's testimony, everything happened inside the church while she was attending the Catechism school. "He locked me in church and started touching me all over my body. And after that he called his wife as if nothing had happened, telling her that he was looking to buy a toy for the boy, so he was late."
The girl in tears says that the priest had threatened to kill her if she spoke.
"I thought I was alone in this situation and that nothing would change. But when I talked to my close friend, I realized that I had people by my side who could help me. "
Shortly afterwards, the 17-year-old gathered forces to tell her story first to her friend, then to her close friend's mother and finally reported to the police. Another shocking detail the girl confessed to the authorities was the fact that the priest also sent her nude photos asking the minor to do the same.
The 37-year-old priest was arrested and the court gave the security measure "prison arrest" for him. The event has caused a major scandal in Greece, but so far there has been no reaction from the Greek Orthodox Church to the event.
Meanwhile, another girl, who lives in the Kato Patisia area, complained that in November 2020 the specific priest had approached her asking her to go somewhere alone to spend some time with him.
According to what the girl told the Greek media, the priest met her through a friend of hers who was attending catechism lessons at the time and invited her to the shrine to talk. He initially offered her a job, as the 19-year-old already paints murals and then asked her to spend a few hours alone, offering her money in exchange.
Luna, now 19, understood his intention and said no, but he insisted on inviting her to go alone at night to a place he had set up for the youth. The young girl, wanting to avoid the priest's pressure, seems to have saved his number on her cell phone called "Do Not Answer", which shows the great pressure that the priest has exerted with his phone calls and how much Luna tried to avoid it.
The 19-year-old left, but the priest insisted on sending her messages to become friends on social networks. The girl continued not to answer and the next day met the priest with his family in an area square. According to the 37-year-old, he looked at her with persistence and eroticism, despite the fact that next to him were the children and his then pregnant wife.
It is learned that the girl had gone to the police to denounce what she claims in the video, but the police replied that they could not do anything more, as there was no incriminating act on the part of the priest.
Meanwhile, residents near the church in Kato Patisia expressed their surprise at the findings, saying, among other things: “She is a very good child, and the priest, a very good man, he helped children, he was involved in sports. We do not believe what they say. He is a great man. I was surprised by what I heard."
While the Priest himself denies everything, he blames all on the minor girl. His lawyer Andreas Theodoropoulos stressed that “it is a strange case. The priest has never lived alone with the children of the catechism. Also, after the search in his house, no pornographic material was found."
"My client pleads not guilty. The complainant herself sent him a message with sexual content, to which the priest never responded and did not tell anyone," he added.
According to Mr. Theodoropoulos, in the case file there is no evidence of the rape of the girl, nor controversial photos of the priest, nor information about the contact between them. "The child who complains to the priest has problems beyond family and psychological issues," the lawyer concluded.