A Tae Kwon Do coach has been arrested in Athens on charges of serial rape of at least five underage female athletes in his gym in Ilioupolis, eastern Athens, from 2009 until 2020.
The victims, now adults, filed against the 44-year-old coach, emphasizing that the man continues his actions even today – with a 15-year-old child as a victim.
Polices believe that when the details of the accused are made public, other cases of girls’ sexual abuse will come to light, media report on Thursday.
The 44-year-old coach is accused that from 2009 to 2020 he raped at least five of his underage female athletes, aged between 12 and 16, both in his gym and at his home.
It was initially 3 of his victims who filed against him and testified to the prosecutor’s office in Athens, then preliminary investigation discovered two more cases of rape.
The coach appeared to have a standard modus operandi: He approached the minors first by praising them for their athletic performance and then encouraged them to enter the competition section in order to do long hours of individual training with him.
During these “private” training, he raped the girls, who did not dare to come out due to their young age.
Based on material police found, he reportedly also used to film his acts.
On social media, the 44-year-old uploaded photos with his athletes, both girls and boys, from competitions where they went abroad, from joint outings in the center of Athens and from the gym in Ilioupolis.
The Greek Tae Kwon Do Federation announced that the man is not a member of the federation and called on the Secretary General of Sports to revoke his professional license.
The coach is to testify before a prosecutor on Friday and the charges he faces are serial rape, abuse of minors, supply and possession of drugs.
It is worth noting that rapes of underage girls are almost daily in the news with the latest and most shocking being the case of a 13-year-old girl in Mani who was raped by a relative and gave birth to a child last month.