Ombudsman Calls for Stricter Measures to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva has sent recommendations to the Minister of Education and Science, Prof Georgi Valchev, and the Minister of the Interior, Ivan Demerdzhiev, urging them to introduce additional preventive measures to protect children from sexual abuse. The Ombudsman's Office announced the move on July 1.

The recommendations follow a publicly disclosed case involving a man who had been convicted three times of committing indecent acts against minors and later worked as a security guard at a school in Sofia after presenting a clean criminal record certificate following legal rehabilitation.

In her letter to the Minister of Education, the Ombudsman recommends that school principals be informed of the potential risks and take the necessary organisational measures to safeguard children. Delcheva writes that particular care should be exercised when contracting external service providers whose employees have direct access to pupils, in order to guarantee their safety.

At the same time, the Ombudsman recommends considering legislative amendments that would require all employers hiring staff to work with children to carry out checks through the National Information System for the Prevention and Protection against Paedophilia, regardless of whether the applicant presents a criminal record certificate. In her letter, Delcheva states that, despite the existence of the register, the current rules allow employers in many cases to rely solely on the criminal record certificate submitted by the applicant without carrying out a check in the system. This creates a serious risk, particularly when schools outsource their security services to private companies.

In her letter to the Minister of Interior, Ivan Demerdzhiev, Delcheva asks whether individuals who have undergone legal rehabilitation are removed from the National Information System for the Prevention and Protection against Paedophilia, what the procedure is for employers to access the register, and whether they are required to submit an application and wait up to 14 days for a check to be carried out. She also asks whether there is a practice of removing individuals from the register following rehabilitation, what measures will be taken to ensure the register becomes genuinely effective, and whether a link has been established between the Judicial Status system and the Interior Ministry's register.

"The state is obliged to take all necessary measures to protect children from sexual abuse," Delcheva adds. She also recommends extending the mandatory screening requirements to cover everyone working with children, including those employed in private educational centres, after-school clubs, children's clubs, entertainment services and childcare.

A few days ago, Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov ordered inspections into a case of significant public interest concerning the legal rehabilitation of a man convicted of offences against children, the ministry's press office said. The move followed a journalistic investigation into the rehabilitation of a man repeatedly convicted of crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, who was subsequently employed in a position involving the security of children at a school and was later detained in connection with a new investigation into offences against children.