‘I’m sorry for what I did’ says 56-year-old cleaner who photographed 5-year-old in kindergarten toilets

An uproar has been caused by the movement of a cleaner to photograph a 5-year-old while defecating while she was in kindergarten.

“I didn’t see anything illegal. Nothing bad. I didn’t do it secretly” says the 56-year-old cleaner who was reported, in Thessaloniki, by the mother of a 5-year-old girl that took pictures of her child in toilets while defecating.

The 56-year-old spoke to MEGA and said:

“There’s no reason, I’m sorry for what I did. I apologize for the mistake I made. The mistake was that I took a picture.”

The complaint was made in May 2022 in a kindergarten in Northern Greece and was referred to a Mixed Jury Court.

The 56-year-old cleaner is being prosecuted for producing and possessing child pornography material, breaching the privacy of telephone communication in the form of recording a non-public act and collecting personal data.

“Come see the spectacle”

The girl’s mother went to the full-day school to pick up her daughter. She was talking to the child’s teacher. They had called the 5-year-old at the entrance, but the little girl was in the toilet, in the courtyard.

“He was the last child left at school in school. He asked me to go to the bathroom. The toilet is located outside the courtyard. I was talking to her mom and the cleaner called us” said the 5-year-old’s teacher. The cleaner was at the toilet door with her mobile phone in her hands and then she called the teacher and the mother.

The mother of the 5-year-old said: “The toilet door was open, my child was inside and he was defecating with his pants and underwear down. The cleaner was there taking pictures with her mobile phone. As soon as he noticed me he said: “Come and see a spectacle”. The teacher immediately reprimanded the cleaner.”

The 56-year-old who is being prosecuted described to Live News: “When I arrived to go to the toilet because we have three, one is for the teachers and two others for the children, a boy and a girl. When I entered the toilet with the things I heard the teacher calling the little girl. I push one of the boys door and the other one was half open and as I go to enter there was a little blonde girl wearing pink clothes. And so I turned around and said to her are you here? What are you doing here a doll dressed in pink? You’re for photography.”

And then, the cleaner claims that the little girl sat with her clothes on the toilet to take the picture.

“He took the bag he was holding, sat on the toilet, the clothes were in place and he tells me pull. The teacher started and shouted what have you been doing Mrs. Athena? I didn’t do anything. Do you want me to take the picture and take it? – Does the mother want to pull it herself so she doesn’t spoil it?”

The 5-year-old’s teacher noted: “He showed us the photo. The mom ran straight to the kid. I think the cleaner did it out of naivety. I was never intrigued by any incident. I informed the manager about the incident. Even today, the accused does not understand what she has done. She thinks they want to fire her from her job.”

The minor said that the toilet door was closed and the cleaner opened it. She was holding her cell phone and told her mom that she didn’t realize he was taking pictures of her.

“He took the cell phone out of her hands and as he told me he found and deleted at least three photos of my daughter defecating. I don’t know if my child’s genitals were visible from the photos”added the mother of the 5-year-old.

The 5-year-old’s mother filed a complaint, and the 56-year-old was released after pleading guilty and barred from working at the same preschool again.

“The mother admitted and says she sees a child naked. How is it possible to talk after two years about such an event? How come the police didn’t come to do what they had to do?” said the cleaner and continued:

“When I entered the toilet there was no child defecating. When I opened the door, the little boy was playing with the pagourino in the sink. The child did not need anything. If the mother found such a scene and if I had taken such a picture, how did she leave smiling? Why is there a book of events”he said.