Lyhanna case: new complaint of child corruption filed against Jérôme Barella
A new complaint targets the primary suspect in Lyhanna's murder over text messages sent to a 13-year-old girl. The mother claims she was discouraged from filing a complaint by gendarmes in Auch.
New complaint for child corruption filed against suspect in Lyhanna's murder
A complaint for child corruption was filed on Thursday 3 September with the public prosecutor's office in Auch (Gers) against Jérôme Barella, the man in his forties who has been formally charged with the rape and murder of the young girl Lyhanna. France Info learned of the information from lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun, who confirms details already revealed by Mediapart.
Barella, aged 41, is said to have sent several dozen text messages to a teenage girl named Lise*, now aged 15, between February and summer 2025. The young girl was 13 years old when she received these messages. She had become acquainted with the suspect through her taekwondo club.
Insistent messages, an invitation to a "pyjama party"
According to exchanges consulted by Mediapart and already partially disclosed in June by BFMTV, Jérôme Barella repeatedly asked Lise for a photo. He also invited her to the swimming pool as well as to a "pyjama party" at his home, in the company of his own daughter.
As the teenager spaced out her replies, the man in his forties became pressing: "Are you annoyed with us or has something happened?" and "It feels like you're avoiding us or even fleeing from us for a while now. (…) Every time we suggest meeting up, you're never able to." Lise told investigators that she ultimately blocked Barella.
Dissuaded from filing a complaint at the Auch gendarmerie
Marie*, Lise's mother, claims that her daughter and she had wished to file a complaint two months earlier. Summoned for an interview on 1 July at the Auch gendarmerie — after having reported themselves to investigators in the aftermath of Lyhanna's death — they were allegedly discouraged from doing so by the gendarmes.
At the time of that interview, Jérôme Barella was already in detention as the primary suspect in the disappearance of the young Lyhanna. A report from the Inspector General of Justice and the Inspector General of the Gendarmerie, highlighting serious failures in the monitoring of the man in his forties, had moreover just been made public.
"I thought they were going to take things very seriously. But no, in the end…", Marie told Mediapart. Lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun for her part condemned the lack of care taken by the authorities: "They should have handled this matter with care given the problems that led to the death of a little girl", she declared to France Info.
The gendarmerie confirms the interview, the prosecutor's office remains silent
Contacted by France Info, the communications department of the national gendarmerie confirmed that the interview on 1 July did take place, without wishing to provide further details on its content, referring to the Auch prosecutor's office. The jurisdiction had not responded to the editorial team's requests at the time of publication of the article.
The public prosecutor of Auch, who had been at the forefront throughout the Lyhanna case, has since left her position.
*First names have been changed.
Source: France Info