Boulogne-sur-Mer: juvenile court overwhelmed by hundreds of cases of offences against minors
Following the Lyhanna case, the ministry of justice ordered an audit of all complaints of violence against minors. In Boulogne-sur-Mer, 550 cases are under review.
Boulogne-sur-Mer: juvenile court overwhelmed by hundreds of cases of offences against minors
The courthouse in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) is operating under considerable strain. For several weeks, magistrates from the juvenile prosecution office have been reviewing hundreds of procedures for sexual assaults committed against children. This large-scale operation follows a directive from the Ministry of Justice following the death of Lyhanna.
Cameras from France Télévisions were able to film the daily work of Cécile Gressier, public prosecutor. On the phone, she is handling a complaint filed three years ago: a teenager reportedly was raped by her father. The magistrate orders psychiatric and psychological assessments, knowing that the investigation will take several more months. She laments the lack of investigators to process these cases within reasonable timeframes.
In total, 550 cases are listed in the prosecution office records. Nine of them have been designated as priority cases, particularly when the victim remains under the same roof as the alleged perpetrator. In these cases, the protection of the child must be ensured urgently.
14 July constitutes the deadline for this review at national level. In Boulogne-sur-Mer, the twelve magistrates are struggling to balance this enormous task with the constant flow of new reports. Kenza Laatar, deputy prosecutor in charge of the minors division, has thus been assigned a new rape case involving a sixteen-year-old girl. She expresses doubts about the prosecution office's capacity to maintain the quality of investigations without an increase in staffing.
Source: France Info