Details revealed in Karaman abuse case

Gülden Aydın – ISTANBUL

A 14-page indictment of a teacher, who faces 600 years of prison for sexually assaulting ten male school children in the central Anatolian province of Karaman revealed shocking details of the offense that caused huge stir throughout Turkey.  

According to the document prepared by a Karaman public prosecutor against 54-year-old Muharrem B., the victims’ ages range from 12 to 14 and they were abused in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The indictment said that some of the children were sexually abused in a dorm of the Ensar Foundation in 2012, as some others were abused at homes of Karaman Religious Vocational High School (İmam Hatip) Alumni Association (KAİMDER).

As the current indictment is only against the teacher, separate cases may be opened against the Ensar Foundation and KAİMDER depending on the outcomes of the probes. Parents of all 10 victims have sued the teacher, but none of them filed criminal complaints against the foundation or the association.  

The teacher admitted sexually abusing four children, according to the indictment. However, he denied forcing the children to watch porn. 

“The children might have seen these kinds of images accidentally on my open computer screen when they entered my room,” said the teacher in the indictment. The children, however, claimed the opposite as two of them said “our teacher made us watch animal and people porn,” while the others said that sometimes they were taken alone to watch the films, and sometimes with others. The children also stated that the suspect told them one of his sexual intercourses with his wife. 

The indictment also included that the teacher told his victims not to tell anyone about the abuses and when the children were asked why they did not say anything, they said they could not say because they were “scared and embarrassed.” 

Meanwhile another teacher in the Yakutiye district of the eastern Erzurum province was arrested on April 12 after he was detained for allegedly sexually assaulting 11 students. The teacher identified by his initials as A.K. was suspended from his duty and has committed the offenses since last year, according to the claims.