Prosecutor seeks jail sentence for teacher in sexual harassment case

TEKİRDAĞ

A prosecutor has sought up to three years jail sentence for a teacher who allegedly sent inappropriate messages of a sexual nature to a 15-year-old student via Facebook.

The mother of the boy discovered the messages from a philosophy teacher, who worked at a religious vocational high school in the western province of Tekirdağ. The mother filed a complaint with both the local police and the provincial education directorate.

Reportedly, his messages to the student included words and expressions such as “sweetie, my beautiful son and kisses.”

An administrative investigation has also been launched against the teacher, who is married with two children.

After learning about the investigation, he sent a letter to the student’s mother, claiming there had been a misunderstanding.

In the letter, the teacher said he loves all of his students and addresses his own children this way. He apologized to the mother for what they had been through.

He also asked the mother to withdraw the complaint filed against him.

“If the devil tempted me and I have done something wrong, may God help me,” he wrote in the letter.

In his statement to the prosecutor, the teacher claimed he wanted to clean his computer of some videos and pictures of sexual content but failed. He turned to the 10th grader boy for help.

He also said he had taken the student to the beach and they had spent the night together in a tent, as he had done previously with successful students.

“I did not have any bad intentions,” the teacher added. 

However, in the indictment, the prosecutor demanded up to three years in jail for the teacher, arguing that the messages included elements of sexual harassment.