Prosecution Asks 2.080 Years Sentence For Sexual Abuse
Prosecutor Héctor Sáenz is asking a Siquirres criminal court for a sentence of 2.080 years for a 68 year old farmer who is accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter.

The man, only identified by his last name, Artavia, is charged with 208 counts of rape and sexual abuse, that began when the girl was six years old and continued until she reached the age of 18, when she finally could leave home.

The abused woman, identified by her last name Esquivel, is now 27 years old, cannot erase the memories of her childhood and as a result of her ordeal now suffers traumas in her marriage and daily life, telling the court in the abuse trial that she "feels nothing" when she is with her husband.

The court also heard testimony how the man would threaten her with a machete to re-enforce his words. "He would tell me that if I left the house, I would be reading the news of how my mother and brother were killed", the woman told the court.

The woman had complained of the abuses to her mother, who in turn would ask her husband,  who would deny any such actions. The mother said that she asked her husband one time swear on the Virgen de los Ángeles. And as such they visited the Basílica de los Ángeles in Cartago, where on his knees he swore never to have abused his step-daughter.

At the trial, abused woman's sister also came forward and declared before the court that she too had been abused by Artavia.

A court decision is expected this morning (Friday).