Rabat- Moroccan right organizations are disappointed at the ruling of the Court of Agadir, which sentenced an alleged pedophile to as little as one year in prison.
A teacher at the primary school of “Al Mamoun”, in the region of Taroudant, was sentenced to one year in prison over child abuse and sexual harassment.
Agadir’s Court of Appeal pronounced its judgment against the alleged sex offender after the victims’ parents brought the case before the Court of First Instance in Taroudant last March.
The teacher has reportedly sexually harassed seven minor students, aged from 8 to 10 years old, on a regular basis, until they decided to inform their parents who managed to put the offender behind bars.
The alleged abuser, the father of a child, continues to deny the charges despite his conviction. He says he is victim of a set up plotted by “jealous women from his workplace. He added that this intrigue was “made up by a group of women who did not swallow that he marry one of his former students.”
But Moroccan right organizations slammed the ruling of the Court and described it as “step backward” in the fight against pedophilia and sex abuse in Morocco.
Najat Anouar, head of “Ne Touche Pas Mes Enfants”, an organization that defends the rights of children in Morocco, said the ruling was shocking to her and the families of victims of pedophilia.
In a communique she released on Saturday, she called for reviewing the judgment as soon as possible and applying the appropriate sentence against the sex offender.
She went on to add that she "plans to conduct an extensive campaign to challenge all court rulings that don’t deter perpetrators of sexual abuse against minors in Morocco."
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.