Son of former justice minister Tudorel Toader detained for rape and sexual assault in Iași
Alexandru Toader, lecturer at the Faculty of Law in Iași, was detained by prosecutors after two students accused him of conditioning their grades on sexual favours.
University lecturer from Iași detained for rape following student accusations
Alexandru Toader, teaching staff member at the Faculty of Law of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University in Iași, was detained on Friday by prosecutors from the Iași Court of Appeal Prosecution, according to hotnews.ro. The case concerns accusations of rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and abuse of authority for sexual purposes in relations with multiple students.
The detention was ordered for 24 hours. Prosecutors requested preventive arrest, and the Iași Court of Appeal remained in deliberation on Saturday at 9.00 a.m., after a hearing lasting approximately three hours, according to judge Diana Micu Cheptene, vice-president of the court.
Two students complained that the professor conditioned their grades
Initial complaints were filed in November last year. Two students stated that Alexandru Toader, 38 years old, approached them after they had failed the Civil Law examination — a subject he teaches in the first year of university.
The publication Reporter de Iași published interviews with the two young women. One of them described how the professor invited her into his office: "Miss… you haven't done very well. Let's see what we can do."
"Everyone knows," one of the students said in an interview with Reporter de Iași. "We tell each other: 'Hey, make sure you don't fail with Toader, because it's not good,'" the other added.
Sources from the Prosecution office specified for hotnews.ro that the investigation expanded following the initial reports and that "there are multiple victims, students".
Prosecution office: reasonable suspicion he abused teaching authority
The Iași Court of Appeal Prosecution office confirmed the detention of the university staff member in an official statement, without initially indicating his name. According to the document, "from the evidence administered so far, there has resulted reasonable suspicion that the accused, taking advantage of the authority conferred by his teaching position and his position of superiority in relation to the students, would have committed the acts which constitute the subject of this case".
Since Alexandru Toader also holds the status of notary public, in addition to his position as teaching staff, the proposal for preventive arrest was heard by the Iași Court of Appeal. His lawyers made no statement on leaving the court.
University rector: no official communication from investigators
Liviu Maha, rector of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University in Iași, said in an interview with Ziarul de Iași that the institution had not been officially notified regarding the detention. The investigators requested documents related to Alexandru Toader's university activity, but did not communicate information about the content of the criminal case to university representatives.
Maha specified that the detention "produces, at this moment, no effects on his teaching activity": "Only depending on a judge's decision will it be possible to make a decision regarding the possible suspension of Mr Toader with regard to carrying out teaching activities."
Tudorel Toader: "It is an attack against me"
Shortly after the prosecution office's announcement, former justice minister Tudorel Toader reacted on Facebook, denying the accusations against his son and claiming the case is fabricated.
"It is an attack against me, striking at Alexandru! This time, a female lawyer with criminal cases, seeking to ease her legal situation, has 'motivated' two students to give unfavourable statements about him, sent a journalist to record them, it resulted in a press story at national level, attached to my name, and finally, the ex officio referral from this criminal case. Without evidence and through intimidation, they struck at a young man who is awaited at home by two children, one of whom is only a few weeks old," the former minister wrote.
Tudorel Toader further claimed that his son would not have known any of the accusations until the moment of detention and would not have had the opportunity to propose evidence in his defence.
"He is facing a case already formed, which he was entirely unaware of, and in the end the accusations were presented to him, considered guilty and deprived of liberty. I express my confidence that the magistrates will find this abuse and will set him free, giving us the opportunity to present a defence and to prove his innocence to them," the former minister concluded.
Alexandru Toader spent Friday night in detention. The detention order was set to expire on Saturday, around midday, when the court was to rule on the proposal for preventive arrest.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)