Lyhanna case: suspect in sexual assault on minor was not questioned by gendarmes despite prosecutor's requisition
Four months before the schoolgirl's disappearance, a complaint for sexual assault on a ten-year-old child was filed against Jérôme Barrella. The magistrate had ordered his custody, but the Lectoure brigade did not arrest him.
Lyhanna case: suspect in sexual assault on minor was not questioned by gendarmes despite prosecutor's requisition
A mother presented herself on 22 August 2025 at the gendarmerie in Plaisance-du-Touch, in Haute-Garonne. She accused Jérôme Barrella of sexually assaulting her ten-year-old daughter. The Toulouse prosecutor's office took charge of the case. Investigators interviewed the girl five days after the complaint was filed. Over the autumn, medical and psychological examinations were conducted. They revealed injuries on the child's body.
On 28 October, the Toulouse magistrates sent the case to the court in Auch, in the Gers, as the facts had occurred in that jurisdiction. The file was only transmitted to the territorial brigade in Lectoure on 9 January. On 23 January, this unit — which has only eight officers — received detailed instructions from prosecutor Clémence Meyer. The magistrate requested supplementary interviews, telephone searches, and above all the arrest of Barrella.
On 14 February, the officers submitted their report. The man targeted by the proceedings had nevertheless not been questioned. This failure occurred four months before Lyhanna disappeared. Furthermore, in another case, a judge had already ordered the custody of this same individual, without law enforcement following through.
UNPRG union spokesman Marc Rollang believes that such a serious case should have been escalated to a research brigade. An administrative inquiry into the gendarmerie's failings is due to publish its conclusions within fifteen days.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info