Convicted child abuser back in custody
A former children’s basketball coach who was convicted in 2013 to 220 years in prison for sexually abusing 36 minors but was released earlier this year, has been taken back into custody.
Nikos Seiragakis, 59, was arrested in the Athens suburb of Nea Ionia on Tuesday after a Supreme Court prosecutor demanded a re-examination of the decision to grant him early release in April.
Seiragakis was originally arrested in 2011 and convicted in 2013 on 36 counts of sexual molestation and abuse against children he was coaching, aged 12 to 17 years old. His initial conviction was upheld on appeal. Under Greek law, the maximum time served in jail for any crime is 25 years.
He was released in April under the statutes of a more lenient penal code introduced in 2015.
The conditions attached to his release were that he would not leave the country, would not visit Crete where his crimes were committed, would not be in company with minors without the consent of their parents or guardians, and would visit a psychiatrist once a month.
