New developments in the sports club scandal: He proposed sleeping together

Following a complaint filed with the prosecutor's office by 5 female students at a sports club in Elazığ regarding sexual harassment by İ.B., who worked as a handball coach and a high school teacher, an investigation was launched and İ.B. was suspended by the Provincial Directorate of National Education.

According to the report by Evren Demirdaş from Sözcü newspaper, İ.B. was detained upon the prosecutor's instruction, referred to the courthouse after police procedures, and arrested by the duty magistrate in April. In the indictment prepared by the Elazığ Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against İ.B., who was arrested on charges of harassment, the prosecution requested the suspect's punishment on the grounds that there is sufficient evidence regarding the harassment allegations.

'HE PROPOSED SLEEPING TOGETHER'

In her statement taken at the Child Monitoring Center (ÇİM), one of the victim students claimed that coach İ.B. proposed sleeping with her and stated the following:

He would say that my friends were jealous and that I shouldn't trust anyone. He didn't have any physical contact during breakfast, but I think he wanted to isolate me and have me to himself. He had done the same to B. as well. Last year, around April, he proposed that we sleep together. After returning from a match, he was supposed to take me to the hospital because my foot was in a cast, but since the hospital was closed, we went to the gym.

'IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE, WE WILL PUT A PILLOW BETWEEN US'

We were alone, and he proposed that we sleep together in what was called the small room. He suggested, ‘You sleep in that corner and I will sleep in this corner; if you are uncomfortable, we will put a pillow between us.’ There was only one bed in the room, and when I didn't accept, he said, ‘It's up to you.’

Claiming that coach İ.B. also requested that she give him a massage, the victim student stated, “After coach İ. returned from out of town, he hugged and kissed me in his room on March 4. We hugged while standing face to face, his arms were around my waist, then he kissed me on the cheek, and then I left the room. We had found performance-enhancing paste in coach İ.’s room. We saw it when we opened his locker to get coffee; I had also seen women's perfumes and deodorants. I learned that it was a performance-enhancing paste as a result of internet research. Neither my friends nor I had any requests for massages from coach İ.; the massage requests came from coach İ. I am filing a complaint against him.”

When the evidence collected within the scope of the investigation is evaluated together; it was stated that witness accounts, victim statements, and audio recordings belonging to the suspect are consistent with each other and corroborate the victim's accounts. Therefore, the suspect's statements aimed at evading the crime were not credited, and it was requested that İ.B. be punished on the grounds that sufficient evidence was obtained to establish suspicion of sexual abuse.