Court jails child molesters in Turkey's southeast

SİİRT

Hürriyet photo

A court in the southeastern province of Siirt has sentenced 10 suspects to 10 years in jail each on charges of sexually abusing four primary school girls, daily Milliyet reported today.
 
The incident first came to light when two siblings, identified only by their initials, H.T., 14, and S.T., 16, reported their abuse to their school guidance counselor in April 2010. 
 
School deputy principal Fahrettin Kuzu, the prime suspect in the case, retired from his profession when the affair surfaced and went into hiding. He was caught by law enforcement officials from Batman and Siirt after spending 35 months as a fugitive.
 
Thirty-nine suspects, including Kuzu and two public officers, were detained in the investigation into the sexual abuse of H.T. and S.T., as well as G.E. and Ş.Y., also only identified by their initials. 
 
Three separate lawsuits were opened into the 39-suspect case, where 10 suspects were arrested in the initial hearing. Ten suspects were sentenced in today’s hearing while the cases against Kuzu and the remaining 28 suspects will continue.