Limassol teacher to stand trial for sexual abuse

1410 views
1 min read

A Limassol high school teacher, accused of sexually abusing nine of his underaged female students, will stand trial before a criminal court.

The 59-year-old male teacher had been remanded in custody for eight days twice following court hearings conducted in November behind closed doors due to the young age of the victims.

Following the expiry of the latest remanding order, the Limassol district court ordered that he be sent to trial before the Limassol Criminal Court, which will convene on 15 December.

According to reports, the teacher faces 38 charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor under the age of 15, sexual abuse of a child and sexual harassment.

The charges involve nine victims, while police officers have received eyewitness statements from dozens of girl students.

The teacher was released on a 50,000 bail and an additional €30,000 guarantee from a third party, while he has been placed on a stop list and has surrendered his travel documents.

He has also been ordered to present himself at a local police station in Limassol daily.

Phileleftheros daily said the teacher has also been issued a banning order and told to keep a distance of 50 metres or contact any of the girls.

The Education Ministry said that the teacher had been suspended for three months.

He was arrested after 13 underage girl students reported that the teacher sexually harassed them during lessons.

The first complaint was filed on 11 November by a student at a local gymnasium in Limassol, who initially told a family friend what was happening in the classroom.

Following the complaint of the first girl, more of her classmates came forward with their own stories of sexual misconduct by the teacher.

The girls had accused the teacher of touching them inappropriately during class.