'Molested' girl pays damages to teacher
A teacher in the western Swedish town of Halmstad has successfully sued one of his pupils for defamation two years after she reported him to the police for allegedly molesting her.
The girl, who is now 15 years old, has been ordered by Halmstad District Court to pay her former teacher 35,000 kronor ($4,900) in damages as well as legal fees amounting to 90,000 kronor.
Two year ago the teacher told the disruptive 13-year-old girl and her friends to either behave themselves or leave the classroom.
Afterwards the girl went to the principal and complained that the teacher had placed a hand on her backside.
The principal believed the girl's story and the teacher was duly removed from his post. He received an official warning and later took sick leave.
When he received notification that he was to lose his job, the teacher reported the girl to the police for defamation and bearing false witness.
The girl responded by reporting her teacher for sexual harassment.
"Since then I have been trying in vain to clear my name," he recently told the court, according to Hallands Nyheter.
When neither his accusation nor the pupil's counter-allegation led to criminal charges, the teacher decided to pursue the matter further by suing the girl for slander.
According to him, her decision to report him to the police was an act of revenge after he had told her that she was disturbing his lesson.
The girl stuck to her story during the trial but the court ruled that she had provided contradictory statements. A number of other pupils who were called to testify also failed to corroborate her claims.
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The girl, who is now 15 years old, has been ordered by Halmstad District Court to pay her former teacher 35,000 kronor ($4,900) in damages as well as legal fees amounting to 90,000 kronor.
Two year ago the teacher told the disruptive 13-year-old girl and her friends to either behave themselves or leave the classroom.
Afterwards the girl went to the principal and complained that the teacher had placed a hand on her backside.
The principal believed the girl's story and the teacher was duly removed from his post. He received an official warning and later took sick leave.
When he received notification that he was to lose his job, the teacher reported the girl to the police for defamation and bearing false witness.
The girl responded by reporting her teacher for sexual harassment.
"Since then I have been trying in vain to clear my name," he recently told the court, according to Hallands Nyheter.
When neither his accusation nor the pupil's counter-allegation led to criminal charges, the teacher decided to pursue the matter further by suing the girl for slander.
According to him, her decision to report him to the police was an act of revenge after he had told her that she was disturbing his lesson.
The girl stuck to her story during the trial but the court ruled that she had provided contradictory statements. A number of other pupils who were called to testify also failed to corroborate her claims.
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