A Junior High School teacher was arrested on Sunday after he was suspected of having a sexual relationship over several years with a student, which began when she was 12. The suspect is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow for a hearing to extend his detention.
Another teacher is also under investigation for allegedly engaging in inappropriate relationships with students. He reportedly created a fake Instagram account to communicate with a student about sexual topics.
The investigation into the junior high teacher began after his student, who had now graduated and was to begin high school, complained that she had been a victim of sexual crimes perpetrated by the teacher over a period of years.
The teacher was taken into custody and his electronic and digital equipment was confiscated while investigators examine whether other children had also fallen victim to his assaults. He will appear in court on Tuesday.
A separate investigation, revealed on Sunday, was launched after a high school teacher was accused of setting up a fake Instagram account where he communicated with a student on sexual topics.
The police were alerted to the suspicions in July, but found no corroborating evidence and the teacher denied the accusations. He then resigned from his position in the school, withdrew from consideration for the position of principal and moved to head a junior high school in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Sources familiar with the case said the 12th-grade teacher was respected and had no prior complaints against him.
Last week, a 43-year-old teacher was found guilty by the Civil Service tribunal of having sex with two students while a third looked on. The students were over the age of 17, preventing criminal proceedings.
“These are extraordinarily serious acts that constitute a grave breach of public trust in the education system in general, and a violation of the trust of parents who entrust their children to the teachers in particular,” the tribunal wrote.