The Liège Correctional Court has adjourned until 11 October the trial of a Liège native residing in Switzerland who is accused of sexually abusing his daughter when she was five to eight years old.
The case has been put on hold pending the conclusion of a court-ordered investigation.
The rapes allegedly took place from 1993 to 1996. His daughter disclosed them years later, in October 2019, after learning that her father could still potentially face criminal prosecution. However, she had confided in friends from an early age about being sexually abused.
The accused had been convicted for indecency in 1972, but similar deplorable acts were deliberately concealed within the family, according to the prosecution.
The defendant, who left his family in 1997 and moved to Switzerland, has denied the charges. He maintains that his relatives cooked up a 25-year-long plot to tarnish his reputation.
The correctional court has ordered an investigation.
