Sex ed teacher signs on the bottom line...

A South African sex education teacher has been sentenced to three years probation after he allegedly propositioned female students by asking to sign their bottoms, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Port Elizabeth Herald said Mafa Chauke was also ordered to attend a rehabilitation program, but was acquitted of more serious charges that could have brought a prison sentence.

The Herald said Chauke, 34, started making indecent suggestions to female students aged between 12-13 after starting work at a local high school in 2002.

Chauke denied the accusations, saying he was the target of a campaign by other teachers at the school who wanted him fired. Port Elizabeth Magistrate Izak van Niekerk disagreed and found him guilty of indecent assault.

"You are unequipped, unqualified to be a school teacher. You have warped ideas of teaching children about life skills and sexual matters," the newspaper quoted the judge as saying.

Local rights groups criticized what they said was the lenience of Chauke's sentence. Sexual abuse in schools is a frequently highlighted problem in South Africa.

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