Isfahan Prosecutor: The Crime of Assault in a Boys' School Has Not Yet Been Proven

The public and revolutionary prosecutor of Isfahan stated that the issue of 'assault' in one of Isfahan's boys' schools has not yet been proven and the matter is 'at the level of child abuse.' Ali Isfahani's remarks come after images and a short video of a gathering of parents from a boys' school in district four of Isfahan were published on social media on Tuesday morning (December 3). According to social media accounts, an individual outside the 'educational staff' of this boys' school allegedly 'assaulted' several students, prompting their parents to gather for addressing the issue. Ali Isfahani, the prosecutor of Isfahan, responded to this matter by stating to the IRNA news agency that on December 1 of this year, four parents of students from one of the schools in Isfahan filed a complaint due to 'sexual harassment' of several students by 'an individual who was one of the parents of the same school and a member of the school's parents and teachers association.' He noted that following this complaint, the students who claimed sexual assault were referred to forensic medicine. Isfahani also reported the arrest of the accused, adding that he has 'so far denied the matter.' This judicial official mentioned the continuation of preliminary investigations into the dimensions of this case and stated that further news would be announced, and if the accused's charges are proven, he will be punished. This is not the first time that the issue of assault and sexual abuse of children in schools in Iran has been reported. On June 27 of this year, several Iranian media outlets reported that one of the officials of a boys' high school in the second district of Tehran was arrested following the sexual abuse of a group of students. Some media reported the existence of 40 complainants in this case, while others stated that 17 students from this high school had been psychoanalyzed, with 16 of them having experienced 'assault.' However, ultimately, Gholamreza Mansouri, the head of the guidance court, announced that this case had eight private complainants and that 'encouragement of corruption and child abuse' were the charges against this supervisor. Following this incident, the Mo'in school was dissolved by the Ministry of Education, and Nasser Kouhestani, the head of the second district of education in Tehran, resigned. Ultimately, this case, which caused significant uproar, was concluded with the issuance of imprisonment and lashes for this supervisor, although the duration of imprisonment and lashes was not specified. Reports regarding 'sexual abuse' of several students in Mo'in high school have once again raised the issue of educating children to prevent sexual abuse, a topic that some extremist religious groups in Iran oppose. While some government officials and members of parliament state that part of the education in UNESCO's 2030 document is 'aimed at preventing assault and protecting individuals' privacy,' the implementation of this document was halted last year following protests from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his associates.