Andorra la VellaThe Lleida Court has sentenced a former music teacher from Vielha to 5 years in prison for a continuing crime of sexual abuse of minors, according to reports Radio Seu. Magistrates conclude that the man took advantage of his authority and influence over the victim, a minor student, to touch her breasts above and below her underwear while giving her guitar lessons, between the years 2015 and 2017.
The sentence prohibits the man from approaching or communicating with the victim for a period of 6 years, and obliges him to compensate her with 40,000 euros for the injuries and moral damages he suffered. The ex-teacher has also been sentenced to 5 years of supervised release and to pay all the costs of the trial.
The events took place in Vielha, at the Tchaikovsky music school, which currently no longer exists. The girl, who was between 11 and 12 years old at the time, explained during the trial that the abuse took place during the weekly guitar lesson she took with the accused. She stated that the man first touched her waist area and then moved his hands up to her breasts. She also related that the teacher justified these touches to “correct” the position when playing the guitar, and that she would get “stuck” and on occasion pull her hands away, but that, despite this, ” happened every time I went to class,” for about a year and a half.
For his part, the then teacher declared himself innocent and flatly denied abusing her. He stressed that in order to teach her to play the guitar, it is “necessary to correct the position of the hands”, but denied touching her breasts. “I had my guitar in front and she had hers,” he argued. In addition, he insisted that the classroom was shared and that anyone could enter it.