Overview
- The Landgericht Erfurt convicted the 58-year-old of abusing three pupils across 2013 to 2025 and imposed a total prison term of four years and three months.
- Presiding judge Holger Pröbstel called the acts unjustifiable and said the teacher exploited a power imbalance, emphasizing the pupils could not consent.
- The court cleared him of two alleged rapes, stressing the complainant was not disbelieved but the charges could not be proven beyond doubt, and a revision remains possible.
- Prosecutors sought a seven-year sentence while the defense asked for two; the defendant largely confessed to abuse but denied rape allegations.
- The case is tied to a wider scandal at the same Erfurt gymnasium, following an October conviction of another teacher and prompting a school review and a state directive for schools to submit abuse-prevention plans by the end of 2026.