Monday, 19 October 2015 - 15:10
Teacher suspected of inappropriate contact with students
The police are investigating a teacher at the St. Ursula school in Horn. The teacher is suspected of "unacceptable behavior with students", including relationships with underage students.
This is according to research done by Dagblad De Limburger.
The teacher was also subject to an investigation last year, after a former-student reported that she had caught him in an "intimate situation" with an underage student. He was ultimately not prosecuted because the Public Prosecutor considered the case "not feasible".
The former-student then took the case to the Investigation Bureau Zuidema in Wessem, who has decided to pick up the case. John Vullers of the bureau told the newspaper that they have had many conversations with students, teachers and the parent council. "My impression is that there is a cover-up culture at this school. There have apparently been more incidents in recent years. With this teacher, but also with some of his colleagues." he said. "They have made themselves guilty of inappropriate behavior with students, such as kissing, touching or even more serious actions. If these stories were put forward, however, they were not taken seriously by the school board. We are now receiving even more worrying reports."
The school called in the confidence inspection and the police itself last week after receiving Vullers' findings. The parents were also informed of the police investigation in a letter. The letter also emphasized that there is no connection between this incident and the earlier incident in which a teacher accidentally sent a picture of his penis to a number of pupils on WhatsApp. The police also have not found a connection between these two cases.