13.07.2024 12:50
A 14-year-old high school student in Konya claimed that her geography teacher sexually harassed her, stating, "The defendant squeezed my buttocks as he passed by me. He was jealous of my male classmates at school." The teacher, who was suspended and subsequently arrested, denies the allegations against him.
A geography teacher named M. K. (55) in Konya is accused of sexual abuse by high school student B. D. (14). In her testimony in court, B. D. said, "The stairs that teachers use are not monitored by cameras. When my friends went up and I stayed behind, the defendant squeezed my buttocks as he passed by me. He was jealous of my male friends. He would engage in jealous behavior that was inappropriate for a teacher, saying things like 'Go sit next to him, hold his hand, are you dating?'". The detained defendant teacher M. K. stated in his defense, "I am being falsely accused. I do not accept the allegations stated in the indictment."
B. D., a 9th grade student at a high school in the city, told her family on April 18th that her teacher M. K. had been sending her messages via WhatsApp and social media since January, and that especially in the past month, the messages had been of a sexual nature. She also claimed that he had tried to kiss her when he dropped her off at home with his car, and most recently, he had touched her inappropriately on the stairs at school. Upon hearing this, her family filed a criminal complaint against teacher M. K.
ARRESTED AND SUSPENDED
After the criminal complaint, M. K. was taken into custody and denied the accusations. M. K. was arrested by the court and suspended by the Ministry of Education as part of the administrative investigation.
M. K. is facing up to 21 years in prison for the charges of "sexual abuse and harassment of a minor". The trial of M. K. began at the 16th Criminal Court of First Instance. In his defense at the trial, M. K. stated that he had been a teacher for 33 years and that B. D. was his student. M. K. said, "I fell into a trap. I never had any physical contact with the victim in the school corridor or in the car. After this incident, I was referred to the psychiatric service. I am taking antidepressant medication. I admit to the messages I sent on social media, but I claim that they were edited and taken out of context."
"I PUT MONEY IN YOUR PENCIL CASE FOR CHARITY"
M. K. stated that he put money in B. D.'s pencil case for charity and said, "During the last week of Ramadan, I put one thousand TL in the pencil case for charity. I was a teacher who helped other students in need at the school canteen. I knew that her father was well off, but he lived in Adana and didn't pay much attention to his family. B. D. told me about this, so I wanted to help her. Regarding the gift incident, the victim came to me and said, 'My friend bought this for me as a gift. I can't take it home like this. Can I say that you bought it?' I told her that I didn't buy her a gift."
"I DID NOT HAVE PHYSICAL CONTACT IN THE SCHOOL CORRIDOR"
M. K. denied the allegation that he had touched B. D. in the school corridor and said, "I never had any physical contact with the victim in the school corridor. The incident of dropping her off at home happened with her mother's knowledge. A week before the complaint, the victim asked me to buy her a phone. I have two cars. She asked me to sell one of them. Our conversations started after the second term. The victim kept calling me on the phone. I wrote the messages in a hasty and angry manner. I was provoked. I am being falsely accused. I do not accept the allegations stated in the indictment. I request my release and acquittal."
"HE HELD ME TIGHT AND KISSED ME"
In her testimony in court, student B. D. stated that M. K. initially acted like a regular teacher, but then his behavior changed. She said, "At first, he approached me as a teacher. I wanted to take private lessons, and that's how we started talking. My friends told me to stay away from him, but I didn't take it seriously. He was friendly, and my close friend witnessed everything. When he dropped me off at home with his car, he didn't stop right in front of my house, but a few streets away. Just as I was about to get out, he held me tight and kissed me on the cheek and lips. But it was only once. I pushed him away and asked, 'What are you doing?' He apologized afterwards."
"I'M TAKING X-RAYS OF YOU," HE SAID
B. D. also claimed that her teacher M. K. touched her inappropriately at school. She said, "The cameras don't capture the stairs that teachers use. When my friends went up and I stayed behind, the defendant squeezed my buttocks. I said, 'Are you crazy?' and he laughed. Later, when he was entering the teachers' room, he looked at me carefully and said, 'I'm taking x-rays of you.' He was jealous of my male friends and would engage in jealous behavior that was inappropriate for a teacher, saying things like 'Go sit next to him, hold his hand, are you dating?' A few days before the complaint, he sent me a message saying, 'Don't write anything on social media, delete what happened, and don't share anything anymore.' After the complaint, I received threatening messages like 'Withdraw the complaint. Who did you make the complaint with?' I don't remember exactly which special day it was, but on a special day, he bought me flowers and said, 'I have them in the car, I'll give them to you after school.' I didn't accept. The gift he bought was for me. It was a red gift box. I never saw him buy gifts for any of my friends. I never saw him give anyone a thousand TL. My friend told me, 'M. K. took your pencil case.' When I went to him and asked why he took it, I saw money inside. I told him that I wouldn't accept it and said, 'If you don't take it, I'll put it in your locker.' When he didn't accept that either, he put the money in the red gift box and handed it back to me."
B. D. also claimed that her teacher M. K. called her to the bathroom and said, "The teachers' bathroom was in our corridor at school. When he went into the restroom, he would invite me by saying, 'You can come too.'"
"HE SENT THREATENING MESSAGES TO MY DAUGHTER AFTER THE COMPLAINT"
B. D.'s mother N. D. stated that she filed a complaint against teacher M. K. and said, "I learned about the incident when my older daughter told me, and the next day, I went to a lawyer. Before the complaint, I saw threatening messages like 'Delete the footage you have' on my daughter's phone. After the complaint, I saw messages like 'Withdraw the complaint. Who did you make the complaint with? You should answer me.' My daughter doesn't have a boyfriend. I have my own car as well. When my daughter first said, 'My teacher can drop me off,' I said, 'No, that's not possible.' But when she insisted again, saying she had a friend, I knew that the teacher would drop her off, and I am filing a complaint against the defendant."
"I DON'T DOUBT MY HUSBAND"
M. K.'s wife F. K. testified in court as a witness. F. K. said, "My husband is a beloved teacher at school. I know the victim to the extent that my husband told me about her. My husband told me that he was being threatened by B. D. and her boyfriend. We decided to help B. D. and another student who is a friend of our son during Ramadan, and we did help them. My husband's school and my son's school are next to each other. When my son went to my husband's classroom, the victim would pay attention to my son and act affectionately. I never doubt my husband. He didn't do such a thing. This is a setup against us, my husband is innocent."
I saw that two messages were sent to my wife's phone by the victim. One was "Good morning, did you come to school?" and the other was "Good night". I also witnessed that she called the victim without her consent. I have no knowledge about the messages my wife sent to the victim.
"VERY AFFECTIONATE TOWARDS FEMALE STUDENTS"
T. Ç., a classmate of the witness B. D., who was heard as a witness, said, "I know the incidents as B. D. explained. I saw M. K. complimenting my friend B. D. many times. He would fix her headscarf and touch her as if caressing. I didn't see any other physical contact. I didn't personally witness him dropping off the victim at her house, but I heard it from my friend. The defendant was distant towards male students at school, saying 'I don't like you'. He was very affectionate towards female students and friendly towards us, but he had a separate closeness towards B. D.," she said.
Ş. D., the sister of B. D., said, "One day my sister came to me in tears. I asked her what happened. She showed me her phone and I was shocked when I saw the messages. Later, I immediately went to my mother and told her about the situation. There were inappropriate messages. I know that M. K. was jealous of my sister's male friends at school through my sister. I know he acted friendly, I learned everything that day," she said.
After hearing the witnesses, the court decided to continue the detention of the defendant M. K. and adjourned the trial.
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