I want my father sentenced to death in front of me, autistic boy says in sexual abuse case
Dinçer Gökçe - ISTANBUL
A man in Istanbul faces more than 80 years in jail in a sexual abuse case in which one of his autistic sons told the court that he would “like to see him sentenced to death in front of him because of his perversion.”
The 53-year-old man, identified only as A.K, had married a 46-year-old in 2002. The couple’s twin sons were born in 2005 and were soon diagnosed with atypical autism.
Citing domestic violence, the woman filed for divorce and the twins were taken under state custody earlier this year. After one of them told an official that they were sexually abused by their father, a prosecutor launched a criminal investigation.
One of the twins testified at a child monitoring center, stressing that he hated his surname because of his father. “I will stay here until the case is over. I would like to see him sentenced to death in front of me because of his perversion,” he said, according to court documents.
The 13-year-old’s twin brother confirmed the allegations, detailing sexual abuse incidents that the children faced when they were left alone with their father at home.
The father, who could be jailed for a total of 81 years, pleaded not guilty. “It is true that I sometimes touched their genitalia over their trousers, asking whether their ‘weenie grew or not,’ but only jokingly. Such an act is in our traditions. I had no ill-intention,” he told the court.
As the trial is proceeding in the 16th Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul, the man remains free pending the in-court testimony of the children.
