The court in Aveiro has sentenced a former ATL employee who used minors who frequented the establishment to remove money and gold from their parents ‘and other relatives’ homes. To 6 years in prison.

During the reading of the judgment, the presiding judge said that the “essentiality of the facts” contained in the indictment had been proven.

The judge considered the conduct of the defendant “extremely objectionable,” adding that it revealed “coldness of character and insensitivity,” taking advantage of vulnerable children, adolescents and seniors.

The defendant, who already has a suspended sentence for qualified theft, has been sentenced to a six-year jail term for nine felony counts of theft.

Besides the prison sentence, the 38-year-old woman will have to pay five thousand euros to two of the injured.

The defendant never attended the trial, nor did she justify the absence, despite being duly notified.

According to the indictment of the Public Ministry (MP), the facts occurred between 2015 and 2016.

During this period, the defendant decided to approach some children who attended the ATL in Esmoriz, Ovar, where she worked, pretending to be interested in their issues and problems to gain their trust and friendship.

Subsequently, using the knowledge she gained in relation to each minor and the ingenuity of her own age, the defendant persuaded them to take from the residence of parents and other relatives, money and gold objects which they would later hand over to her.

The MP also says that the defendant used the easy access she had to the backpacks of the children while they were in the ATL, removing the keys from the entrance doors of each of their houses and made copies, which he kept with him and that used later to enter the residences and steal gold and money.

According to the investigation, the defendant was able to steal more than a hundred pieces of gold (strings, bracelets, rings, earrings and others) in the total amount of about 18,000 euros and a little more than seven thousand euros in cash