A 55-year-old man from Best will serve almost two years in prison because, as a teacher, he had sex with an underage student several times. He also sent her dickpics.
This was the verdict of the court of appeal in Den Bosch. The judge also decided that the man may no longer contact the now 21-year-old victim from Eindhoven. Furthermore, he must pay her a compensation of over 5500 euros, because the woman is still suffering psychologically from what she went through. At the time, the victim was 16 years old, and she and he were student and teacher at the Pius X-College in Bladel.
Appeal
The court in Den Bosch in November 2022 gave the ex-teacher initially “only” two days in jail, partly because there were doubts about the reliability of the woman’s statements. The Eindhoven native is happy with and relieved about the judgement on appeal. She is especially pleased that the court does believe her reading. However, she cannot close the case yet: there is a good chance that the other party will appeal in cassation.
The lecherous acts were committed between May 2019 and March 2020. The court relies on statements from the woman, the app traffic between her and the man from Best and a witness statement. Their contact began with tutoring, first at school and then at the man’s home; the girl was 16 at the time.
They then had sex in a hotel in Belgium and at the girl’s home. She initially did not want to, but because she did have feelings for the man, she agreed, the court stated. According to the former teacher, he only touched her to comfort her.
Mentally vulnerable
The man did confess to sending sexually explicit videos and photos. The court blames him greatly for this, because he knew the girl was mentally vulnerable. Also, school teachers should be protecting students from sexually transgressive behavior instead of exposing them to it. The former teacher, who by the way is married and the father of four children, in the eyes of the court only wanted to satisfy his own lustful feelings.
The former teacher’s lawyer says he will in all likelihood go to the Supreme Court to appeal. Within two weeks, he must take a decision on the matter. “In my view, the court did not sufficiently substantiate on a number of points why it came to a proven verdict. This is especially the case with the victim’s statements,” the counsel clarified. He calls the ruling as surprising as it is disappointing.
Restraining order
Whether or not it comes to cassation: the restraining order goes into effect immediately. The ruling shows that the man sent messages to the former schoolgirl as recently as last spring. These included comments such as, “then take him in the mouth” and “I never wanted to hurt your feelings.” He also sent along pictures of his genitals.
The court is seriously considering that in the future the woman will again not be safe from the man and that he will continue to cross the line.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Martijn
