A person has been charged with child sexual abuse allegedly committed in 2000–2001, when the accused worked as a sports teacher at a school in Tbilisi. Tbilisi City Court sent him to pre-trial detention on November 10, in what the women’s rights group Sapari described as a “crucial decision” after raising alarm over the person’s alleged continued contact with children.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said in a November 10 statement that the investigation conducted by the Interior Ministry established that the accused repeatedly engaged in sexual contact with a student who was 8 to 9 years old at the time.
The person was charged with “forcible sexual act, using official position against a person who has not reached the age of fourteen” under the 2000-2001 edition of the Georgian Criminal Code, an offense that carries up to 20 years in prison.
The case was first reported on November 9 by Sapari, a Georgian women’s rights group whose lawyers are representing the survivor. According to Sapari, the survivor, who was seven years old when the abuse began, approached the organization a year ago.
Sapari’s lawyer, Mari Varamashvili, worked with the survivor to collect evidence and participated in the necessary investigative and procedural actions, which, according to the organization, confirmed the information provided by the survivor.
Sapari also expressed concern that the accused had continued to have contact with children and was engaged in private tutoring, calling the situation “alarming.”
In a separate Facebook post from November 9, Sapari head Baia Pataraia described the case as “first precedent.”
“He has been systematically abusing a 7-year-old student for years and to this day continues to work with children,” Pataraia said. “We are discussing pedophilia and the man still works with children.”
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