Supreme Court accepts appeal over suspended sentence for amusement park worker

Lithuania’s Supreme Court has agreed to review a prosecutor’s appeal against a suspended prison sentence given to an amusement park employee convicted of raping a minor visitor. LRT reported Thursday that the case will be heard in an oral proceeding, although no hearing date has been set.

The prosecution is asking the court to overturn rulings by the Utena District Court and Panevėžys Regional Court and order the man to serve his sentence in prison, Supreme Court spokeswoman Tautvilė Merkevičiūtė told BNS.

Klaidas Sinica was convicted in February of raping a minor visitor to the park and causing minor bodily injury in autumn 2024. The Utena District Court sentenced him to a combined three years in prison, suspended for two years. It also ordered him to work, study or register with the Employment Service, take part in programmes addressing violent behaviour, and pay the victim 5,000 euros in compensation for non-material damage. His movement was restricted for six months.

A Panevėžys regional prosecutor appealed the sentence, but the regional court upheld the suspended term in the first half of September. The courts cited, among other factors, that Sinica had no previous convictions or administrative penalties, had been positively characterised and had only recently turned 18 when the crime took place.

In its latest appeal, the prosecution argues that Sinica did not admit to the crimes or show remorse, cooperate with law enforcement, apologise to the victim or compensate her. It says a suspended sentence would fail to meet the aims of punishment, could make him feel he had escaped accountability and leave the public feeling insufficiently protected from such crimes.

Democrats leader Virginijus Sinkevičius and Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė have also criticised the decision not to impose an immediate prison term, saying such rulings undermine public trust in Lithuania’s justice system.