Hildesheim, Germany - A female student was fined 1,800 euros (2,640 dollars) Tuesday for trading sexual favours for inflated marks that landed her a job at the law faculty of a German university. The unnamed 30-year-old admitted at her trial in the city of Hildesheim to having had a five-year sexual relationship with a male law professor, dubbed the "Campus Casanova" by the media.
The 53-year-old academic is also on trial in Hildesheim for allegedly selling coveted doctorates in law to candidates who had not fulfilled the academic requirements.
Convicting the student of corruption, the court found she had unfairly profited from her relationship with the professor to gain the post of assistant at Leibnitz University in the city of Hanover.
The blonde assistant said she had lived with the married professor in her flat with the full knowledge of his wife. She had heard rumours he was having affairs with other students but did not believe them, she told the court.
The professor, charged with 78 counts of corruption, is accused of receiving at least 184,000 euros from a consultancy firm that introduced him to his illicit clients.
The company is alleged to have paid the money between October 1996 and May 2005 in exchange for approving the dissertations of candidates who had not fulfilled the necessary academic requirements.
The consultancy is also alleged to have earned large sums through the transactions - up to 22,000 euros for a single doctorate - from lawyers aiming to increase their standing by having the title of doctor.
The problem is said to be widespread in Germany, where academic degrees are particularly highly regarded.
The head of the consultancy is also on trial with the professor, whose weakness for his female students proved his downfall.
Two students refused to accept him as examiner, fearing that they would be suspected of having secured their grades by offering sexual favours. The university then initiated a formal probe.
The professor's trial is set to continue on March 5.
