A Greek police officer accused by his former wife of sexually abusing their young son has been cleared by a court in Thessaloniki.
The ruling ends a five-year legal battle that he says cost him his reputation and his relationship with his child.
The Thessaloniki Misdemeanors Judicial Council, which decides whether cases go to trial, ruled that there was insufficient evidence to send Kostas Dalianis to trial.
It cited contradictions in the accounts of the alleged incidents, a lack of corroborating evidence and its assessment of the psychological reports.
"It is a first victory, but there is great bitterness, because I waited five years," Mr. Dalianis told the news site iefimerida.
"I was stigmatized, and most importantly, the case kept me away from my child, whom I have not seen in years."
The couple married in 2018 and had a son a year later. They separated two years after that, when the mother filed the complaint.
Mr. Dalianis serves at a police station in northern Greece.
According to iefimerida, the allegations relied largely on an assessment by a psychologist in Athens' northern suburbs whom dozens of parents have accused of producing false abuse findings.
The council reviewed forensic examinations, expert reports and a videotaped interview with the boy. It found inconsistencies in his successive accounts, as well as evidence of affection between father and son.
A forensic doctor found no sign of abuse, said Mr. Dalianis' lawyer, Vaso Pantazi.
"The child said nothing negative about his father, but said that he missed him," Mrs. Pantazi said.
Mr. Dalianis said court orders granting him contact with his son go unenforced.
He is pursuing legal action against the psychologist and his former wife, and plans to ask civil courts to restore access to the boy.
The mother could not be reached for comment.
By Vassilis Goulas