Valencia teacher abusedat least eleven underage students

Sergio T. T. admitted that he had touched the 14-year-old girl's intimate areas without her consent during tutoring classes at the academy he ran in Museros.

The repeat sex offender took advantage of the girl being seated and of moments when he approached her under the pretext of explaining something to her to sexually abuse her.

The teacher is already serving a final sentence, upheld by Spain's Supreme Court, for similar sexual abuse of nine other pupils.

The original ruling sentenced him to 35 years in prison. It found that between 2015 and 2018, the teacher had "with a sexual motive, without their consent and without violence or intimidation, touched them repeatedly around the chest and groin, over their clothing, taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by his profession when giving explanations or clarifying points raised by the pupils".

A subsequent ruling added another two and a half years to his sentence for sexually abusing another pupil who reported him in March 2021.

He has now been tried and sentenced to a further five years in prison for similar offences against another pupil. The abuse took place between 2015 and February 2016.

The victim had enrolled at the Museros tutoring academy because it had a good reputation and she had heard positive reports about the accused, who was the son of an acquaintance of her mother.

The court convicted him of a continuing offence of sexual abuse of a person under 16, taking advantage of his position of authority. The touching happened repeatedly while the victim attended the academy once or twice a week for extra lessons in maths and physics.

According to the ruling, the accused "took advantage of his position as a teacher and the favourable circumstances afforded by his profession". During lessons or when the girl stayed behind for a few minutes after class under the pretext of having a concept explained to her, he would approach her from behind and, with a sexual motive and in a more or less concealed manner, touch her genital area and breasts, whether or not other people were present.

To try to prevent the touching, the victim began wearing high-necked or closed-neck tops and used her hand to cover herself. The teacher would remove her hand.

The abuse had a significant emotional impact on the girl, who needed psychological therapy and continues to suffer from anxiety, irrational fears, sexual difficulties, low self-esteem and depressive feelings.

The ruling also bans the defendant from contacting or coming within 500 metres of his victim (the eleventh girl to report him) for ten years.

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