Former OTV boss Dan Diaconescu, who is still awaiting trial, has been charged by prosecutors with two counts of long-term sexual intercourse with a minor and five counts of long-term child prostitution, News.ro reported.

We remind you that Dan Diaconescu was taken from his house by masked men on Thursday and taken to the Constanta police for questioning.

A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office at the Court of Constanta, Alexandru Daniel Olteanu, told News.ro on Thursday evening that Dan Diaconescu had been informed of the allegations.

What are the charges brought against Dan Diaconescu

• “No precautionary measure was taken. He has not made a statement yet. Now he is studying the materials, and then he will be heard if he wants to make a statement. His house in Constanta was searched. He was informed of the charge.

We are talking about two crimes of sexual intercourse with a minor in a prolonged form and five crimes of using child prostitution in a prolonged form,” said Daniel Olteanu to Alexander.

Dan Diaconescu’s lawyer, Alexander Murerescu, said Thursday night that his client is accused of having sex with two underage sex workers three years ago, but that Diaconescu told him he never had sex with prostitutes.

• “The allegations, which have been brought to our attention through the protocol, are that three years ago he allegedly had sexual relations with two underage prostitutes without specifying their ages. This is the age from 15 to 18 years. When I asked Diaconescu about this circumstance, he told me dryly: “I have never had sexual relations with prostitutes,” he told Alexandru Murescu.

Diaconescu’s lawyer accuses of “excesses”, “exaggerations” and “confusion”

• “When you’re accused of such a serious crime, the only hope you have is that at some point the prosecutor, the police officer, and the public will realize that this was an excess. There is a possibility that I have made some confusion or exaggeration. There is that possibility, and it’s the only one I can cling to at the moment, because I can’t believe that he had a judicial execution planned, done with such intent that I don’t see how it could benefit anyone.” said the lawyer.
• When asked about the photos of Dan Diaconescu with two girls, his lawyer said: “That’s the only information I can give you in a verifiable way. It is about the Cancan newspaper. There appears a photo of Dan Diaconescu and two young women with blurred faces. When showing this photo to Dan Diaconescu, he said very clearly, without a doubt, that it was of two Ukrainian refugees. Not for long. These were not two girls in the sense that the prosecutor’s office believes that they had some kind of relationship. Dan Diaconescu, if he walks in Constanta or anywhere in this country, believe me, people attack him. He told me he knew them, I think they live not far from his house. But I noticed that both the prosecutor and the employees of the judicial police said that in no case did such information come from them. Indeed, I was checking one of the policemen, I showed him that photo, and he says that it is not them. So what Dan says is confirmed.”

He also said he was surprised that he had not seen surveillance cameras on Thursday morning when they began searching the residence of Dan Diaconescu in Bucharest.

• “This intoxication of the press made me think from the first moment. I searched from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I congratulated the police for their patience. I expected that there would be video cameras in front of Dan Diaconescu at the beginning of the search, because we lawyers are so used to having the press present when there are legal actions against a public figure and even – I congratulated them and said well done, this is how the investigation should be conducted and any legal activity. And from 9:00 it started to appear in I don’t know which newspaper,” said the lawyer.

Dan Diaconescu was discovered by the police in the locker room

The lawyer also told how Diaconescu’s detention took place from the point of view of his client and how he was found in the dressing room.

• “After I greeted the police officers, I kind of slapped them in the face and said that you participated in the search, you were the only one who participated in the search and you led the search. This information could only come from you, and they told me that they were escorted to the search by special forces. It’s true, I’ve also seen it on headphones, and you may have provided information that caused some confusion due to a mistranslation from Romanian. It was not found in the closet, it was in the dressing room. A dressing room is not necessarily a wardrobe, it is a room. It’s right next to the bedroom. At 6:30 in the morning, when the police came, I can’t say that they stormed, because they really did it civilly, with three knocks on the door, with five calls. They did not have time to break down the door, because it was opened immediately. There is a moment of surprise and panic. Mother-in-law, wife, child were in the house. The moment he got out of bed he heard a thump because they went straight up. There was a huge police force, some of them went downstairs and entered every room, and some of them sped up. At that moment, he went from the bedroom to the dressing room, where he was met by the police. So he was practically found in the locker room on his way to the front door. What kind of cabinet are we talking about?”, the lawyer said.
• When asked whether he expects the preventive arrest of Dan Diaconescu, Alexandru Murerescu answered: “I cannot expect a preventive arrest. I don’t expect any restrictions. But the prosecutor sovereignly evaluates whether the measure of detention has been chosen, whether a request for a preventive measure has been filed. But this sequence makes me wonder. First, social emotion is created at the sources, and then, at eight, ten, twelve, when the emotion reaches a certain intensity, the measure is decided.”

Dan Diaconescu was jailed in March 2015 after being sentenced to five and a half years in prison for blackmail. In November 2017, Dan Diaconescu was released after the court finally decided on his parole.