(CNN) -- A verdict is expected Friday in a child sex abuse trial that has gripped Portugal for years as dozens of alleged victims testified against a television star, a former diplomat and five other defendants.
A three-judge panel is due to rule on allegations of 32 alleged victims who said they were raped and otherwise abused as children when they were in Casa Pia, a state-run home for orphans and the needy in Lisbon, CNN Portuguese affiliate RTP reported.
Prosecutors have tallied a total of 800 crimes against the defendants -- six men and a woman -- who maintain they are innocent.
The case began when a group of nine boys who had been at the home accused several people of sexual abuse between 1998 and 2001.
Soon after, other alleged victims stepped forward.
The allegations against the defendants, who are well-known in Portugal, shocked the country and Portugal's then-president, Jorge Sampaio, called the case "a national disgrace," Portuguese media reported at the time.
The trial started in late 2004. Hundreds of witnesses and experts have testified.
The alleged victims and the defendants were due to be in court on Friday. State-run RTP TV was broadcasting the proceedings live in Portugal, with a slight delay to electronically distort the names of the alleged victims, which by law, cannot be broadcast, an RTP editor, Rosa Salgueiro told CNN.
CNN
