The teacher based in Vittel was summoned by the local gendarmerie after students tricked the teacher by pretending to be a young 16-year-old girl on a teenage chat website.
The students organised a meeting with the teacher in his 50s whilst passing for the 16-year-old. Several days later at the meeting, the teacher realised he had been tricked. The teenagers confronted him and then alerted the authorities.
When questioned by the police, the man admitted that he exchanged messages with the students and believed that he had been communicating with a 16-year-old. He also admitted having agreed to the meeting in Vittel. The investigators then searched his home and seized his computer, tablet, and smartphone.
The police officers found a few dozen photographs of a child pornographic nature on the man’s hard drive, and added the charge. According to Lorraine media sources, the man admitted to having looked at the images but did not admit to having downloaded them.
The teacher, who previously held a clear criminal record, was placed in detention and then transferred to the Epinal public prosecutor’s office. The investigating magistrate decided not to place the man in pre-trial detention until his trial, due to take place on 27 August.
In the meantime, the man must undergo judicial supervision and is banned from any interactions with minors. His lawyer told Lorraine media sources that his client suffers from a “strong and proven pornography addiction, which led him to visit sites showing scenes of a child pornographic nature.”
