The Helsinki Appeal Court on Monday reduced the sentence of an over-40-year-old teacher convicted for acts of child sex abuse committed at a city school between 2013 and 2017. A lower court found the man guilty of touching pupils during class and sending them photos of his genitals as well as images depicting homosexual sex acts.
In December 2018, the Helsinki District Court handed down an 18-month suspended sentence to the man on nine counts of child sex abuse. He was also ordered to pay damages ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 euros to victims.
However the man appealed his sentence and on Monday the appellate court reduced the suspended sentence from 18 to 14 months. The appeal court ruled that not all of the instances when the man touched the pupils could be considered child sex abuse.
Court: Touching head, hair, neck "not sexual"
It rejected the lower court’s argument that touching the head, hair and neck and massaging the shoulders were sexual acts. It said that they were not sexual acts that could damage a child’s development and therefore in light of the circumstances were not sexual in nature.
However it found that touching the children near their genitals, on their thighs and on their stomachs constituted sexual acts.
With regard to one of the victims, the appeal court considered the question of whether or not the teacher knew that the recipient of his photos was under the age of 16. In Finland the age of consent is 16. It ruled that the teacher did know and therefore his action was premeditated. He had sent a 15-year-old student photos of his genitals and his anus.
The appeal court did not reduce sentencing with regard to the damages the teacher was ordered to pay.