The teacher of a secondary school in Alkmaar is sentenced to community service for seducing a girl (16) online. She was a student of the gym teacher and, the court ruled, he should have put a stop to the sexual conversations with photos and videos. He also demanded that she delete their messages.
The judgment was just made in the court of Alkmaar. In the same city before the summer holidays of 2022 at a secondary school, something went on for about two months between a PE teacher and a student – whom he also mentored in a previous school year.
That started, it turned out, two weeks ago during the court case, via Instagram. The teacher (27) placed a so-called question sticker – a call for good moviesthe girl responded and the teacher sent her a private message.
At some point, this conversation culminates in hints at “Netflix and chill’ – a suggestion to watch a movie and have sex together – and sending nude photos back and forth. Also through Snapchat.
The images that the teacher sent to the student showed that he was masturbating – or had just finished. Screenshots of the messages have been saved and a friend of the girl has seen material.
‘Stopped thanks to friend’
The court ruled that this shows that the gym teacher deliberately incited the girl to sexual contact – he asked for more detailed photos, for example. “And this only stopped because a friend of hers informed the care coordinator.”
Although the pair denied having any sexual contact in an initial conversation with the school, the girl later explained in detail about their chats. She also told the same story over and over. The court therefore sees no reason not to believe her story.
But the teacher has declared, the verdict is, “calculative and in his favor.”
“He said that the victim was the first to send him a message and that he went along with it and the initiative therefore lay with her. Even if this were the case, it would not matter for the criminal offense. Minors are in a sensitive developmental phase of their life.”
In response to of this article Another girl reported to the police about the investigation into the teacher. At the age of sixteen, she also had sexual contact with the same teacher online.
He also did not answer pressing questions, according to the verdict, because his memory failed him. The man would therefore not see the harmfulness of his actions.
‘He had predominance’
“The teacher took advantage of the significant ten-year age difference. Of ascendancy. He should have been more sensible and stopped the conversations with the sexual charge.” In addition, he has demanded that the girl delete all conversations.
The student suffered psychological damage, according to her victim impact statement. “It was a terrible time. I have to put it in place and it’s not easy,” she said.
The court therefore sentenced the 27-year-old man to six weeks in prison. This means that he still has to go to prison if he commits a new criminal offense within two years.
So he does not have to go to prison now: this would be better for the assistance process that he has to go through. The man will also receive 160 hours of community service and must pay the victim 1,000 euros in compensation. He has a few weeks to appeal.
School administrator response
A director of the school was also present at the verdict. Due to the sensitivity of the case, we are not clear about which school it is, what the name of the teacher is and therefore the administrator.
What is your first reaction?
“It’s too bad that something like this happens, despite everything we try with each other. You always want it to be safe and that didn’t work out. It might be difficult because it didn’t start at school – only to see a colleague take the bend flies out. We want to learn from this. How do we deal with it?”
What have you done lately?
“Discussions have been held with directors, colleagues in the sector. Also with the students concerned. And the student. Those conversations are ongoing, including with the confidential advisor. If there is something to arrange for her at school, we will do it.”
And for the other students who received this?
“Of course the gossip is there and they have read the news. We pay a lot of attention to that. If there is a reason or signals, conversations are held with students, classes or parents. We try to act on that. And classes where it does play a role we’ve already done that.”
We understand that not all students have been spoken to, why not?
“Some students do not know at all that it is playing. It is not always wise to stir in a jar. Choosing the moment is important: not because something happened, but in the normal pattern of guiding students. When we cycle right through that, like ‘we need to talk about it’, something bad is suddenly happening, where it wasn’t before.”
What specific things are you going to do now?
“It is an emphatic point of attention. I will soon have conversations with confidential advisers and we will continue to evaluate. If necessary, we want to rewrite documents or devise procedures – if we don’t already have them. On to a better time. For the students and for the teacher in question a lot of work on himself.”
The teacher is no longer employed at the school.