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On Thursday, the Panevėžys Regional Court announced a guilty verdict for former Member of Parliament Kristijonas Bartoševičius. The court found him guilty of all charges and sentenced him to a final combined sentence of 7 years in prison.

The court noted that all charges against K. Bartoševičius were undoubtedly confirmed and were proven with appropriate means of evidence. The court based the guilty verdict on the following reasons:

1. The minor victims and witnesses in their testimonies spoke about the same locations and time periods, and mentioned only one person—K. Bartoševičius. None of the victims or minor witnesses identified any other individuals who had committed criminal acts against minors. The fact that all of them provided their testimonies in their own way, emphasizing circumstances that were significant to them, shows the different perceptions and recollections of the events by the children, which was also discussed by the experts.

2. During the court sessions, the defense lawyer for K. Bartoševičius raised doubts about the reliability of the psychiatric-psychological examinations performed on the minor victims. The court noted that the examinations were conducted by competent experts who confirmed their findings in court sessions and answered all questions raised by the participants in the proceedings. Therefore, the court agreed with the expert opinions regarding the facts and extent of the harm to the health of the minor victims and dismissed the arguments of the defendant and his lawyer regarding the unreliability of the examinations.

3. The prosecution requested that the court, along with the prison sentence, also impose a criminal measure of influence—a prohibition from working with children for 5 years after serving the sentence. The court noted that the Law on the Fundamentals of Child Rights Protection stipulates that individuals found guilty of criminal acts against children are prohibited from engaging in activities involving minors. This means that after the guilty verdict takes effect, K. Bartoševičius will not be able to work with children. Therefore, in the court's opinion, imposing the criminal measure requested by the prosecutor would be redundant.

We remind you that the verdict of the Panevėžys Regional Court is not yet in effect and can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeals within 20 days.

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