Barcelona School Teacher Charged with Sexual Assault of Former Student, Second Former Student Also Reports Abuse

Two former students have accused an active employee of the Salle Bonanova, a school in Barcelona run by the Institution of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, of sexual abuse. The 6th Magistrate’s Court in Barcelona is investigating the accused, a primary school teacher who was also a central football coach, for a crime of sexual assault against one of the two former students.

As El Periódico has reported, the suspect has also been named in a complaint from another person, who claims to have been abused years earlier, when the accused worked as a teacher at another school, the Viaro Global School of Sant Cugat del Vallès, and ran the Club Esportiu Bonanova, which is linked to the Salle Bonanova. The accused, identified in reporting by his initials, is alleged to have abused the first complainant between 2004 and 2005 and the second between 2008 and 2010.

A complaint about the most recent alleged abuse was filed on October 8, 2020. The complainant testified that the alleged abuse began when the complainant was 12 and continued until the age of 14. The complainant states that the accused, who was the primary school teacher at Salle Bonanova and the coach of the school football team, sexually assaulted the complainant on many occasions.

A further complaint was lodged at the police station in Sant Cugat del Vallès on October 25. That complainant told officers that the alleged abuse by the accused began at age 13 and continued until age 15.

In a circular sent to parents on Tuesday, November 24, the school’s management said it received a request on November 13 from investigating court number 6 concerning an alleged sexual assault on a former pupil. According to the letter, the assault was alleged to have been committed “10 years ago” by one of the school’s active employees, the accused.

The school said the accused took leave two days before the court’s request arrived and that, for the time being, it intends to remove him from his duties for the duration of the judicial process. The letter also said the institution has joined the case so it can access all the information and pass it on to families. The school’s psychopedagogical team is working on a plan to accompany families, a commitment to protecting the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

The school said it is cooperating with the judicial authorities and asked that the presumption of innocence of the person under investigation be respected.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)