In its judgment announced on February 20, 2024, the Debrecen Court of Appeal, as a court of second instance, upheld the decision of the Püspökladany District Court, which found the defendant guilty of the crime of sexual abuse committed by abusing a relationship of power or influence with a person who has reached the age of fourteen but not eighteen.
In the first-instance judgment handed down on November 16, 2023, the district court sentenced the accused to 10 months in prison, the execution of which was suspended for a 2-year probationary period, and the accused was permanently banned from practicing any occupation or other activity that involves the education, supervision, and care of a person under the age of eighteen, carries out medical treatment, or is in a relationship of power or influence with such a person. The prosecution took note of the first-instance verdict when the defendant and his lawyer filed an appeal against it.
The accused abused his power
According to the essence of the final judgment, the defendant taught at an elementary school in Hajdú-Bihar County, where in early January 2022 the accused contacted the victim through an Internet messaging service as a teacher teaching at the school. As a result of the messages exchanged between them, their relationship became confidential and became more and more intimate.
The accused and the victim met several times from February 2022 to the end of March 2022, during which an intimate, physical relationship developed between them. The accused, as a teacher at the victim’s school, abused his power and committed a sexual act with the minor victim.
In the case, the district court heard witnesses, including the victim in a closed hearing, as well as the expert assigned during the proceedings. As a result of the evidence procedure, the court found the accused guilty.
The court of the second instance found that there was no absolute violation of procedural rules in the case, the classification and reasons for the crime were correct. The court agreed with the facts established at first instance, the type and extent of the imposed punishment are correct for the enforcement of the principles of individual and general prevention. Since the prosecution took note of the verdict of the first-instance court, the punishment could not be aggravated.
(Debrecen Court)
