Fr Antonios was found guilty of grievous bodily harm to minors, instigation of dangerous and simple bodily harm and instigation of threatening behaviour. The court also found four of his associates guilty of grievous bodily harm, dangerous bodily harm, simple bodily harm, threats and exposure.
Among those found guilty are a former member of the board of directors of the shelter, the former head of educators and the former director of the facility, located in Volos, Magnesia.
“Such a decision means a lot for the children who found the courage and bravery to proceed with the complaint they made. I believe they will also feel a trust that they may have lost towards the state and the child protection system,” Panos Christodoulou, General Director of the Greek NGO Network for Children’s Rights, told BIRN.
“The fact that this particular organisation received all this support at that time without its mode of operation being completely clear is something that should concern those who supported it,” Christodoulou said.
He added that “it is wrong to generalize and assume that all organisations operate in the same way that this particular organisation operated at the time.”
Fr Antonios’ jail sentence may be converted to a fine of 10 euros per day of the sentence, meaning that he must pay more than 60,000 euros to avoid serving prison time.
He denied the charges. In a TV interview on February 17, rejecting the accusations, he said: “The most important thing worth saying is that almost all the witnesses who testified said they lied. They talked about bribery, they named people,”
In the first-instance trial in November 2024, Fr Antonios was found guilty of abusing minor children who were housed at the shelter. He was granted probation until the appeal trial.
The government in November 2022 replaced the priest at the shelter following the first allegations of violence, exploitation and sexual abuse of minors at its facilities.
Media reported that the shelter received aid as part of the support given to organisations under the COVID-19 support programme.
The trial is one of three related cases before the courts. The other two are for felonies, child sexual abuse and the financial management of Kivotos Tou Kosmou, Athens Macedonia News Agency reported.