A teacher from the Pleven region has been taken into custody over allegations of sexual abuse involving two 13-year-old girls, Nova TV reported. The 29-year-old mathematics instructor, who works at a school in the village of Sadovets, is accused of engaging in sexual acts with one girl and committing fornication with another between late December 2025 and early February 2026. The Pleven District Prosecutor’s Office has requested that he be placed under permanent detention.

This incident follows a series of similar cases in Bulgaria. In Sofia last summer, another teacher was arrested on pedophilia charges. The victim reported that her 30-year-old physical education instructor had taken her to a hostel multiple times for sexual abuse.

Authorities in Pleven initiated an investigation after receiving a report from a mother. According to BNT, evidence indicates that the accused teacher engaged in sexual acts with at least two children. He is scheduled to appear in court today, where prosecutors will seek the strictest measure of detention.

Vessela Petkova, director of the “Hristo Botev” Primary School, where the teacher has been employed for five years, confirmed that the alleged assaults did not take place on school premises. She said the police questioned her about his conduct at school. Petkova described the teacher as meticulous and strict in his mathematics classes, an avid football player, and the school’s football coach, adding that there were no signs to suggest such behavior could have occurred. She emphasized that both the school staff and community are in shock.

The recent case is part of a troubling pattern. In August 2025, a physical education teacher in Sofia was arrested for pedophilia after maintaining a long-term sexual relationship with a seventh-grade student. Later that year, Hristo Kirev was convicted of a sexual crime against a seventh-grader and received a two-year, eight-month prison sentence, suspended for five years.

In December 2025, authorities detained a 29-year-old man in central Sofia following a two-month surveillance operation by the State Directorate of Internal Affairs and the Cybersecurity Department of the Bulgarian Anti-Corruption Bureau. The investigation began after police traced the download of pornographic videos featuring minors to a single IP address.