Painter Postazs sentenced to ten years in prison for sexual abuse of young girls

RIGA - Riga Regional Court on Tuesday sentenced Peteris Postazs, painter and long-time lecturer at the Art Academy of Latvia, to ten years in prison for sexual abuse of young girls more than 30 years ago, LETA learned at the court.

During today's court debate, not only the prosecutor and the attorney for Postazs, but also all four victims spoke.

The court then heard the defendant and, after 50 minutes of deliberation, handed down its verdict.

The court also ordered Postazs to pay more damages to each victim than the court of first instance court had ruled.

The court will release a full verdict on April 21. The court's ruling can be appealed within ten working days.

Postazs' case was heard behind closed doors. The Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica earlier reported that the court of first instance gave Postazs a three years' suspended imprisonment.

The defendant claimed that he was innocent and filed an appeal. So did the prosecution and the victims.

According to Re:Baltica, the case involves several women who claim to have been sexually abused by Postazs as children. The victims found each other and gave statements to the police in 2022, more than 30 years after they were sexually abused by Postazs.

The victims include granddaughters of Postazs' wife and girls he taught to paint.