Ex-teacher in Valais convicted of sexual abuse
Published: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 15:20
Updated At: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 15:22
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A former teacher from Valais has been found guilty of sexual acts with children and pornography by the district court of Sierre. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, including 18 months in prison, with a probation period of four years.
The court thus followed the request of the public prosecutor's office. It also imposed a ten-year ban on the man from carrying out any professional or non-professional activity involving minors, as the court informed the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday on request. The parties can appeal against this ruling to the cantonal court.
The man, who was born in 1985, was accused, among other things, of touching one of his pupils, who was between ten and twelve years old at the time of the incidents from August 2016 to June 2018, three times after school in the area of her breasts, buttocks and crotch.
Around three years later, she confided in a friend who raised the alarm with the school management. In January 2020, she filed a formal complaint.
The accused denied the allegations. At the court hearing on Monday, his lawyer pleaded for the court to acquit him of most of the charges and to refrain from banning him from working with minors.
Relationship with 14-year-old
The man, who now works as an adult educator in another canton, was also accused of having had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl for several years. As she did not consider herself a victim, she did not appear as a plaintiff. However, the case was prosecuted ex officio.
The defendant was also accused of exchanging messages with a 15-year-old girl in 2017 that prompted her to talk about sexuality and of exchanging photos and videos with sexual content. In total, more than 280 photos were also confiscated from him, mostly of girls, which had been taken without their knowledge at school or in a private setting.
©Keystone/SDA
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