Teen’s court hearing in explicit photo case postponed again
The case against the 15-year-old boy who stands accused of having edited into existence explicit images of teachers and pupils at the school he attends had his latest court hearing postponed on Tuesday until November 18.
The boy had initially been due to appear in court on November 1, but a postponement was granted until Tuesday to allow his team to receive more legal advice. This postponement has now been extended for another six days.
He attends a school in the Larnaca district, and gave a written statement to police on October 24 before being released and appearing in court on the British Dhekelia base the following day.
There, he was released pending his next hearing, subject to a number of conditions, which include that he may not use any electronic devices, including telephones, laptops, tablets, or other computers, that he may not use the internet by any means, and that he may not contact any of his alleged “victims” or any other person who may be involved with the case.
Additionally, he was ordered to “comply with his school’s rules”. He said he would not respond to any of the charges until he consulted a lawyer.
Two parallel investigations are being carried out into the incident, one by the bases’ police and one by Cyprus’ education ministry.
The images are being examined, with it currently being believed they were edited by pupils at the school and then circulated in social media groups.
The education ministry has requested that the school file a report on the matter and is continuing its investigation.
The pupils who were the subject of the edits were reportedly “disturbed” that their faces had been placed on images containing explicit content, and as such reported the incident to their school.
The school’s investigation into the matter found that teachers’ faces had also been edited into such images.