Law lecturer from Iași arrested for 30 days on charges of rape and sexual assault against two female students
Alexandru Toader, a lecturer at the Law Faculty of UAIC Iași, has been held in preventive custody for 30 days on charges of rape and sexual assault. The university has suspended his employment contract.
Son of former Justice Minister Tudorel Toader arrested for rape at Law Faculty in Iași
Alexandru Toader, a lecturer at the Law Faculty of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University in Iași, has been held in preventive custody for 30 days after judges at the Iași Court of Appeal ordered the measure on Saturday morning. ProTV News reports that he is being investigated for rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and misuse of office for sexual purposes.
Toader had been detained on Friday by prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor attached to the Iași Court of Appeal. He is the son of former Justice Minister Tudorel Toader.
Employment contract automatically suspended
"Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University announced on Saturday evening that preventive custody automatically triggers suspension of the lecturer's employment contract. The leadership has convened a meeting of the Law Faculty Council for Monday morning, "at which measures that must be immediately applied so that educational activities are not negatively affected will be identified".
The institution reaffirmed its "firm" commitment to university ethical standards and called on students to report any violations, including those related to sexual harassment. The leadership also clarified that it respects the presumption of innocence and will not comment on matters under criminal investigation.
How the female students were approached
According to the investigation, the two female students were allegedly contacted by Toader after they had failed their exam in the first examination session. One of the young women told journalists from Reporter de Iași how she was approached:
> "If you want to continue in this career, there are sacrifices to be made. Besides, you can't learn anything anyway, you have emotions, you're too emotional, and you're even doing therapy about it. But why pay money for therapy? The solution is to have sex with me."
The young woman claims that she gave in to his advances and had sexual relations with the lecturer, the first time in his office at the faculty and the second time at the notary's office that Alexandru Toader owns in central Iași. Subsequently, she left the Law Faculty and is now completing a different university specialisation.
Possible additional victims
The two female students claim that they are not the only victims and that there may be similar cases within the faculty. The investigation was opened last autumn following an article published by Reporter de Iași.
Tudorel Toader, the former Justice Minister, wrote on Facebook on Friday that everything had allegedly been orchestrated by a lawyer with pending criminal cases, who was seeking to "ease" her legal situation in this way.
Source: Știrile ProTV