Child rapist imprisoned

A MARRIED father of two has been sent to prison for eight years for repeatedly raping his neighbour’s 13.5-year-old daughter in the İskele area.

Reports said that Turgut Ağcabay, 29, who was sentenced recently at Gazimağusa Assize Court, showed “no remorse for his actions”.

The court found that Mr Ağcabay had “raped the girl once every three to four days, for six months between April and September 2020”.

As a result of an investigation after the child’s father filed a complaint with the police, Mr Ağcabay was arrested at his home in September 2020.

The court found him guilty of “rape, sexual abuse, abduction, assault and battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment” and handed down an “exemplary sentence”.

Senior Judge Pınar Beyoğlu, Judge Özge Uğraş and Judge Musa Avcıoğlu handed down the unanimous verdict.

Judge Avcıoğlu said that such crimes “harm the public” and pointed out that the law stipulates maximum sentences of life for rape, six years for sexual abuse, three years for abduction and seven years for assault and battery.

Judge Avcıoğlu also pointed out that, according to 2020 court annual reports, there has been an increase in the sexual crimes for which the defendant was convicted of, from 19 in 2018, to 33 in 2019 and to 38 in 2020.

Emphasising that the number of assault and battery cases was 32 in 2019 and 83 in 2020, the court indicated that it is one of the “three most common crimes” in the TRNC.

Judge Avcıoğlu also addressed the “extenuating circumstances” that the defendant’s lawyer had claimed in court.

He noted that Mr Ağcabay’s lawyer had argued that the crimes “did not occur through duress, coercion, violence and the use of force” and that Mr Ağcabay’s victim took an “active role and participated” in the crimes.

However, Judge Avcıoğlu dismissed the defence presented by Mr Ağcabay’s lawyer, saying that the girl could not legally consent to sex due to her age.

The crimes were committed “systematically without remorse or regret”, Judge Avcıoğlu stated before handing down the eight-year sentence.