Teacher's sexual abuse of elementary school girls confirmed; conflicting reports from officials
After the publication of a report of a teacher "raping" several female students and the "attempt" by educational authorities to cover it up, the South Khorasan Education Department confirmed the existence of the case, and the provincial judicial authorities were forced to take a stand.
On Wednesday, July 10, the South Khorasan Justice Department declared the original charge against the abusive teacher in Ferdows County, South Khorasan, as “child abuse” and emphasized that the rape issue was “not true.” The official institution also attributed the rape news to “hostile media.”
However, on the same day, the head of the judiciary announced that the teacher had been "sexually exploiting" underage girls.
According to Ali Movahedi Rad, the Chief Justice of South Khorasan, preliminary investigations by law enforcement and the prosecution determined that the defendant "was sexually harassing and exploiting minors by showing obscene films to minor girls via mobile phones and engaging in some immoral behaviors."
According to him, the criminal court, based on legal citations and despite the defendant's denials of some of the charges, sentenced him to three months in prison for "making pornographic content available to children and adolescents, two years in prison for harassment, and five years in prison for sexual exploitation through the provision of children."
The court also sentenced the defendant to a two-year ban on residing in Ferdows as an "additional punishment."
These statements come after a notice from the South Khorasan Province Justice Department published on Wednesday, July 10, announced that seven complaints against the defendant had been registered in the courts in June.
According to the announcement, "in six cases, only child abuse was alleged and proven. The verdicts of six of the plaintiffs' cases have been issued, which can be appealed in the provincial appeals courts, and the case of one plaintiff is also under review."
As the South Khorasan Provincial Court of Justice and its head have announced, "With some plaintiffs objecting to the court's ruling, the child abuse case in Ferdows has been sent to the provincial appeals court, and legal investigations and investigations are continuing."
