The district court in Most is discussing the crime of rape, which, according to the indictment, should have been committed by a teacher of the elementary art school in Most about ten years ago. The victim was supposed to be his student, then a teenager. The accused teacher faces a prison sentence of thirty months, suspended for a probationary period of 36 months. The teacher does not feel guilty, he does not agree with the deed, with the legal qualification and even with the proposed punishment. On Tuesday, April 2, the main trial continued with the questioning of witnesses.
District Court in Most.
| Photo: Deník/Martin Vokurka
According to the indictment, at an unspecified time between 2014 and 2016, the teacher repeatedly touched the student’s thighs and penis through his clothing without his consent, which he also held in his hand. This was supposed to happen in a car driven by the teacher and in which the student was a passenger. The teacher was then supposed to grab the boy by the hair in the car, pull him face down to his lap and invite him to perform oral sex. According to the indictment, the teacher abused the fact that the student felt increased respect and dependence on him and was unable to show physical or verbal resistance. The boy was said to have suffered mild to moderate post-traumatic stress disorder with consequences that are still evident today.
The court began hearing the case last November. The main trial with evidence continued in February this year, when the panel heard the victim in the absence of the defendant and then several witnesses. Due to the need to summon another, the trial was adjourned until the beginning of April. After the Easter holidays, the victim’s mother also testified at the court as a witness. “It’s been about two years since my son confided in me that he was sexually harassed (by the defendant) in the past, he literally said he was raped,” the mother said. She confided that she didn’t know how to react during the confession because her son was already an adult and cried. Although he felt relieved after the interview, she advised him to seek psychological help. According to the mother, the son did not tell her anything suspicious before and did not complain about the teacher as a student at the school, although she noticed that he did not want to see him later.
The teacher had previously prepared him for talent tests at a secondary art school, but his mother did not like the fact that the teacher paid attention to him even in his free time and outside of school, when, for example, he picked him up by car and they went somewhere for coffee. According to the mother, at that time they both acted as friends, they talked to each other and even went to camps. She described as unpleasant the situation when the teacher allegedly deliberately spent his summer vacation in the same seaside resort as her and her son. They are said to have seen each other there sometimes. According to the mother, the case in question happened at a time when the son was mentally ill due to relationship and health problems in the family.
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The teacher’s colleague, who attended the school as a teenager and was also friends with the defendant, testified at the court on Tuesday. He also let himself be driven in the car and, according to his words, perceived the teacher’s somewhat manipulative behavior, including verbal expressions with sexual overtones and slapping on the bottom. “But they were indications of a more verbal nature,” he added in the courtroom, saying that at the time he took it as a joke and that other friends of his also experienced the same.
Another witness, who is more familiar with the case and is from the victim’s school and friends, confirmed the mother’s statement in court that the teacher often met the boy outside of class. “He perceived him as a friend, but at the same time as an authority,” the witness described the pupil’s relationship with the teacher. According to her, the teacher should also have reached out to other students and should have made verbal innuendos with sexual overtones. A few years ago, this was allegedly discussed at a party where a group of friends were supposed to share their experiences and mediated information.
