Following the revelations and police mobilisation regarding the rape and forced prostitution of a 12-year-old girl in Kolonos, Athens, another horrific case of sexual abuse and exploitation within a family has come to the public’s attention.

A brother and sister aged 17 and 22 years old have both filed lawsuits against their parents, claiming that their father raped them and pimped them when they were children and that their mother stood by and witnessed these acts without helping them.

According to reports, the rapes began in 2012 when the boy was seven years old, and his sister was 12.

The children had reported the abuse they were being subjected to in their own home back in 2017 with the encouragement of a teacher, but the police investigation that followed was closed on an apparent lack of evidence.

In the new lawsuit, the siblings claim that they were systematically raped by their father and an uncle, as well as by at least 17 other acquaintances of the father.

It’s alleged that the child rapists were invited to the family’s home in the Athens suburb of Petralona for the specific purpose of sexually abusing the children.

According to the girl’s testimony, the parents would hold a “a rape party” for relatives, guests and the father’s associates to force themselves on their children.

The lawyer of the then minor and now adult girl, Dimitra Plastira, confirmed the complaint that “the rapes of the children were not only committed by the father, but also by a number of relatives who participated in a party organised by their father. In fact, all this was done with the knowledge of their mother, against whom they have filed a lawsuit”. She highlighted that this particular family, “is a Greek family, ordinary, from the ones we call next door”.

The two alleged victims reportedly said that they have a younger sibling who has also been a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of their father and continues to live with their mother who “had warned them against speaking to anyone about their ordeals on several occasions”, the lawyer told Greek TV channel ANT1.

According to the lawyer, the parents did not force the children into prostitution, however, the father allegedly organised parties with people from the family environment as well as his associates, where they raped the minor.

“The case began to unravel when a neighbour who noticed strange behaviour and saw the younger child of the family walk around terrified, offered to give lessons to the child for free so that he could enter the house,” Ms Plastira told media.

“With his help, the children found the strength to talk about everything that was going on and ended up filing a police report in 2017 at the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office.”

As the lawyer reported to OPEN TV, the father has left the house. The daughter, who is an adult, has also left her home, the 17-year-old is under the care of the neighbour’s family that helped him while the adult daughter has also filed for the younger sibling’s custody rights.

“What the children have experienced is shocking, beyond imagination. From 2017, it took the police months to call in the children to testify in 2018. It’s now 2022 and the minors are still theoretically left under the care of their alleged rapists and abusers while the case remains in the issuance stage.”