Sexual assaults on 9 girls in Paris: school activity leader tried in magistrates' court
A former school activity coordinator, 38, appeared before Paris magistrates' court on charges of sexual assault against nine girls aged 6 to 10.
Paris trial of activity leader accused of sexual assaults on nine girls
A former school activity coordinator in Paris appeared on Monday 31 August afternoon before the magistrates' court in Paris, according to Radio France - Justice. He is being prosecuted for sexual assault against nine girls aged 6 to 10, committed between 2022 and 2024 at Vigée-Lebrun school in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. The man, 38 years old, has since been suspended and then dismissed.
The defendant admitted the facts at the opening of the hearing, his voice trembling, his hands gripping the witness box, his head lowered. He apologised to the victims and declared: "I am aware of having abused my position of authority." When questioned about these nine very young children, whose testimonies paint, according to the court president, a precise modus operandi, the accused claims to have little or no memory of the assaults or of the girls involved. "If they said so, it must have happened, children don't lie," he declared.
The man maintains that he never touched the children under their clothing and denies any paedophilic impulse. During the investigation, he nevertheless acknowledged that he looked up the term on the internet "to see the definition", before adding: "I didn't recognise myself." The court president noted that his searches led him to join a discussion thread between paedophiles, on which paedophilic photographs were being exchanged. Put under pressure, the defendant claimed that he only participated in these exchanges to entrap their authors and report them, presenting this as a way to "atone for his wrongdoings".
This trial takes place in a context of high tension in Paris around violence in school and school activity structures. More than 200 criminal investigations are currently underway for suspected violence in this sector in the capital.
Source: Radio France - Justice