A man from Costești village of Ialoveni district was sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping his minor daughter during over a year.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in December 2016 – February 2018, by physical and psychological constraints, the man sexually abused his 14-year-old daughter. The man’s wife worked abroad and the girl and her younger brother remained in their father’s care.

The police were alerted by the girl’s aunt who learned about the rape from the girl. The man aged 32 was arrested, but this pleads not guilty. He was held on remand until his conviction. The sentence can be appealed to a higher court.

A study carried out by the Prosecutor General’s Office shows a larger number of cases when children became victims of sexual offenses and crimes against human life and health was recorded in 2018. There were started 373 criminal cases over sexual abuse, as opposed to 332 cases in 2017.

In 58 of the cases, the children were abused in the family. A number of 86 criminal cases were started over crimes against human life and health that involved 91 child victims.