Child sexual abuse court case interrupted

THE trial of a 60-year-old Briton, facing charges of sexual abuse and indecent assault against an 11-year-old girl, got underway in Paphos on Thursday.

The court proceedings were interrupted when the girl, while testifying, felt unwell.

The court adjourned to January 8, ordering that the defendant remain in custody at the Central Prisons.

The 60-year-old, a permanent resident of Cyprus, was arrested on September 1 as a suspect after a relative of the girl reported the alleged sexual abuse to police.

According to the complaint filed, the man sexually abused the girl between June and August this year.

The man was friendly with the girl’s family and would frequently visit their home.

At one point the girl alerted a family member to the abuse.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.