A man who sexually assaulted seven victims over a two-year period committed “despicable” crimes, a judge said today.
Theo Tsiolas had denied inappropriate sexual behaviour in relation to any of the victims and the case was heading for a crown court trial.
But faced with compelling evidence, the 42-year-old finally entered guilty pleas on 23 July this year – four years after he was first questioned by detectives.
He admitted 10 counts of sexual assault against six female victims and one male victim. The offending was contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which makes it an offence to intentionally touch another person sexually without their consent.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the assaults took place between March 2019 and July 2021.
After the victims came forward, Tsiolas denied his actions amounted to sexual assault – instead arguing he had engaged in “boisterous antics”, which he described as “banter”.
Detectives from Nottinghamshire Police took a different view after obtaining statements from each of the seven victims, in which they described multiple incidents of touching that were clearly of a sexual nature.
At his sentencing hearing today (19 September), a judge heard Tsiolas’ crimes had shocked people in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, where he owns a chip shop.
His defence counsel told the court he felt “sorry, embarrassed and ashamed” by his actions and was now looking to sell the business.
Jailing him for 18 months, suspended for two years, Judge Michael Auty KC said: “It was despicable behaviour and, while your family has suffered egregiously by what you have done, it serves to underline just how seriously offending like this can affect people.”
The judge added Tsiolas had “humiliated and degraded” each of his victims and that the “effect and impacts was profound”.
As part of his sentence, Tsiolas, of Rockcliffe Grange, Mansfield, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and attend 30 rehabilitation activity days.
He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Gemma Ryback, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Public Protection unit, said:
“Tsiolas’ behaviour towards the seven victims was extremely unacceptable and had a significant impact on each of them.
“To compound their suffering, he spent years insisting his behaviour was merely ‘banter’ and that he was innocent of sexual offending.
“This greatly prolonged the criminal justice process and I’d like to pay tribute to the fortitude shown by the victims, who supported the case through many adjournments at court.
“I would also like to commend them all for speaking about what happened to them. It is because of their bravery in coming forward that we have been able to bring Tsiolas to justice.
“Hopefully the conclusion of the case will provide some closure for the victims and finally enable them to move forward with their lives.”
