Appeals court overturns acquittal in child sexual abuse case

Turku Court of Appeal has sentenced a 67-year-old man to three years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a child, overturning an earlier acquittal, Yle reported. The victim was the man’s step-grandchild and was between six and 13 during the offences, which took place from 2006 to 2013.

The court ordered the man to pay the victim 22,000 euros in compensation for suffering, with interest from spring 2013, as well as legal costs. The ruling is not final.

The Kanta-Häme District Court had dismissed the charge, finding there was not enough evidence to convict. The prosecution and the victim appealed. The man denied the charge in both courts.

The appeals court found the victim’s account credible and said it was as detailed as could reasonably be expected about events so long ago. It said the fact that the victim could not describe how the offences had affected them did not undermine the account. The victim had explained that they did not speak about the abuse for years because they feared the effect on family relationships.

The appeals court also considered the man’s account unreliable. His description of how much time he had spent with the child changed between the courts, and during the pre-trial investigation he had cited a lack of memory rather than directly denying the acts. The court said the offences were aggravated overall because they involved numerous acts. It did not reduce the sentence because of the time that had passed.