Five Years and Three Months in Prison for Berlin Teacher for Rape and Sexual Abuse

Acts, Crime Scene, and Method

In all cases, the sexual acts took place in a garden shed in Weißensee. The presiding judge, in his approximately two-and-a-half-hour oral reasoning of the verdict, spoke of a "pattern" that W. had applied again and again, in which he "targetedly" made contact with female students from difficult family and social circumstances. W. had sexual intercourse with the then 15- to 17-year-old female students by exploiting his position of authority and trust as a teacher, the judge said.

According to the convicted man's own statements, Morea Cvirka was sexually abused more than 40 times. She was present at the verdict's announcement and said she was at first "relieved," because she had feared an acquittal or a suspended sentence could have been possible. Nevertheless, she is glad "that it is over, that he is being held accountable, and that he will presumably not be able to sexually abuse any more girls in the future," Cvirka said of W.

Reactions of the Key Witness

However, after the oral reasoning Cvirka spoke of "an uneasy feeling," as not all cases had been included and "the presentation of events did not correspond to the truth and also not to my statement." The verdict is not yet final. Should the convicted man appeal, the Federal Court of Justice will have to rule on the matter.

Early Failure of the School Supervisory Authority

Already in 2016, one of the incidents had become known according to research by the Tagesspiegel. A chat between a student and teacher that came to light during a school trip was reportedly not taken seriously by the responsible school supervisory authority at the time. The school supervisory authority declared the matter resolved just weeks later and forced the student to delete the chat from her phone. W. had recorded the sexual intercourse with one of the female students and stored the video in his then apartment. According to his own statement, the victim herself knew nothing of the recording. The hard drive had been found during a search of the apartment in September 2022.

Political Assessment and Demands

The man had worked at various schools as a substitute teacher. The 39-year-old had deliberately exploited his position of authority as a teacher and the trust of the victims, the Regional Court found. The Tagesspiegel had previously reported extensively on the case.

Claus told the Tagesspiegel that "German schools are inadequately prepared for cases of sexualized violence by teachers." There is a lack of knowledge about perpetrator strategies and methods, she told the "Tagesspiegel."

There is also a lack at the school supervisory authority, which is disciplinarily responsible for examining such allegations. Claus calls for mandatory training in all federal states. This news was broadcast on 06/12/2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program.