Link to the article

Translation:

"The word of nine girls apparently is worthless for a judge. In this country, a teacher is allowed to touch students inappropriately." With tears in their eyes, the parents of the children who complained of abuse left the court yesterday. They will appeal the case.

The alleged abuse took place in September 2012, when the sixth graders of primary school St Louis from Sint-Andries (Bruges) went on a week long campingtrip in Torhout. A short time later a mother went to the police. The 12-year-old woman's daughter told her that teacher B.M. (51) had assaulted her in the dormitory. There were three other sets of parents, with similar complaints. And five other girls filed a complaint because the teacher had loose hands in class. He would have his hand on their buttocks as they were called to the board. A total of 9 presumed victims filed a complaint against B.M., who had an impeccable record so far. The man was preventively suspended and is to this day a persona non grata at the school. He still gets his salary.

B.M. risked two years in jail, but the judge has declared the statements of the minors as not true. In its statement, the judge insisted B.M. had an impecable career, plus the fact that his wife always backed him up and that the psychiatrist had no reason to believe B.M. was a pedophile. Also, his four children say they have never noticed anything in that sense. The other teachers who were there at the camping trip also said they never noticed any of form of abuse or pedophilia.

I was preparing for a shit-fest in the comment section given the public's view on cases like this. However, I was pleasantly surprised that most people agreed that this man was innocent unless proven guilty.