Father Anthony, the founder of the Ark of the World, will appear before the Mixed Jury Court for the case of sexual acts against two boys who were hosted in the organization’s facilities, according to a decision of the Council of Petty Magistrates.
In its verdict (number 2432/ 2024), the Judicial Council ordered the clergyman to be brought to trial on charges of “abuse of minors with a victim who had not reached the age of 14 and with a victim who had reached the age of 14 in a serial and repeated manner”.
The case concerns the complaints of a 19-year-old, who was previously an inmate in a facility, and a 15-year-old, who continues to be a guest at the “Ark of the World”, who testified to the prosecution authorities about specific incidents.
The decision of the judicial council is in line with the proposal of the prosecutor Dimitris Nomikos, who requested the referral of the clergyman to trial, considering that “sufficient evidence of guilt sufficient to publicly support a charge against the accused in the courtroom emerges.”
According to the complainants, the acts for which Father Anthony will stand trial are for the 19-year-old between September 2020 and August 2022, having reached the age of 14, and for the 15-year-old in the summer of 2022 when the sufferer was 13.