A 54-year-old teacher was accused in the Bruges Criminal Court of violating the sexual integrity of eleven pupils.
The defendant is alleged to have touched the students without consent, but denies that he had sexual intentions. The Public Prosecutor demanded a suspended prison sentence.
The case began when a girl told her parents about her teacher at a primary school in Ichtegem. This brought to light that the teacher had been overly friendly with his first-year pupils.
Other children also confirmed the stories. The defendant allegedly hugged his pupils in class, but also kissed them on the cheek, for example.
Following the reports, the school group decided in March 2022 to suspend the man from Lichtervelde. Later, the school group even dismissed the man in his fifties.
However, the defence successfully appealed against that decision. Among other things, the appeals chamber ruled that there was no sexual connotation to the facts. The teacher lost part of his salary as part of a disciplinary sanction.
On Monday morning, the defendant had to answer to the Bruges Criminal Court for violating the sexual integrity of the eleven girls and boys.
The defence requested acquittal, arguing that the teacher had no sexual intentions. The teacher did acknowledge that the boundary between his own children and his pupils had become blurred in his interactions with them.
The court will deliver its verdict on 12 January.
