Development in the scandalous case that attracted public attention at the beginning of the year – the court in Plovdiv is rehearing all parties in the case against the mother and her boyfriend, who systematically abused a 5-year-old child.
The stepfather Petar Chernev has 6 charges of torture and humiliation, and the mother is sued as his accomplice. 2 weeks ago, magistrates rejected a possible suspended sentence agreement for the mother.
Peter Chernev does not admit that he caused the average bodily injury to the five-year-old child. The injuries were from scalding with water and subsequent infection, not from blows. He claimed to have learned about the incident in the bathroom, in which the boy's head was burned, the next day from the mother. He also told his relatives that it was a domestic accident.
"There are three videos in which you can see some other slapping and some other ordering. That's all and unflattering words. If someone has to take responsibility for this trauma, maybe the average bodily injury was caused on the basis of non-treatment, and the light that was received, this burn - a purely domestic accident - grew into an average one, said Anton Chernev – father of Petar Chernev.
"We do not deny that there was an act committed. We have pleaded guilty to minor bodily harm, so we will plead for a fair sentence based on what will be proven on the level of guilt and as a person who must suffer punishment," said Yordan Davchev – Peter Chernev's lawyer.
Prosecutors have announced that they will seek sentences close to the maximum for most of the charges that have been filed. This means up to 10 years of imprisonment for the stepfather.
"To the mother a 2 to 10 for average bodily harm. I can't say whether she observed everything, but there is enough evidence that she was present at some of the acts," said Dimitar Kostov - prosecutor.
The child is currently being cared for by his biological father in Germany. He will have another operation in December. He goes to kindergarten, but psychologists work with him because the boy has problems. The father has sent the opinion of the German specialists about the process.
"Similar to our TELK in Germany, he told me 42 or 47 percent damage to the psycho-emotional state, that's how he explains it to me, expecting it to go up to 60 percent. He is recovering, but it is difficult, he wrote to me just now, yesterday, that he had seven nights of nightmares", explained Vasil Popov – attorney for the child.
The case will continue as usual in November, and in the case of a conviction, the penalties will not be reduced by a third.