Abuser held as child struggles
A 39-year-old man who is alleged to have physically and sexually abused his Romanian girlfriend’s five-year-old son last week was remanded in custody after being questioned for three hours on Saturday by a prosecutor in the prefecture of Lasithi, Crete. Panayiotis Kalatzis will remain in custody pending charges of aggravated bodily harm and endangering life but he could be charged with murder if the child dies. He has confessed to attacking the boy, saying that he was out of control at the time, but has denied committing any sexual offenses. The boy, whose name has only been given as Petros, is still in critical condition at Iraklion University Hospital but doctors fear his health is deteriorating and doubt whether he will be able to pull through. When leaving court on Saturday, Kalatzis refused to comment apart from telling journalists to «leave the mother alone.» The mother of the five-year-old boy has come under fire from the press after she led police to Kalatzis just after the attack as she had been staying with him at a local hotel.
