Two new accounts of sexual assault target former deputy Joaquim Pueyo
Two men accuse former Alençon mayor Joaquim Pueyo of indecent assault on minors that occurred in 1981 and 1994. Radio France revealed these accounts on Sunday.
Former deputy Pueyo targeted by two new accounts of assault on minors
According to huffingtonpost.fr, two men have decided to file a complaint against former Alençon mayor and former socialist deputy Joaquim Pueyo for sexual assault on a minor. The alleged acts date back to 1981 and 1994, a period during which Pueyo worked as prison governor within the prison service. The presumed victims were then aged 14 and 15 years old.
These revelations come five months after an initial allegation of rape of a minor made by journalist Frédéric Pommier, who claims to have been assaulted at the age of 7. This complaint has since been dismissed due to the statute of limitations.
It was the investigation unit of Radio France that made the two new accounts public on Sunday, 6 September.
Patrick B.'s account
The first account comes from Patrick B., now aged 59. In spring 1981, when he was 14 years old and living in a hostel south of Alençon, he was picked up hitchhiking by Joaquim Pueyo. The latter allegedly drove him into town, offered to take him to lunch and to the cinema, then invited him to spend the night at his home, on the pretext that it was too late to return.
It was during that night that Patrick B. claims to have suffered indecent assault. "He imposed caresses on me. I pushed him away several times but he came back to me while I was sleeping. He kept saying to me: 'Shh! Shh! Shh!'. I still hear that 'Shh!' today," he told Radio France.
Tony C.'s account
The second account is that of Tony C., 47 years old today. He claims to have been awakened in the middle of the night by caresses on his intimate parts while he was sleeping in Pueyo's service apartment, adjoining the Nanterre prison, where the latter was governor. Tony C. and his mother, a friend of Pueyo's, had been invited to spend a few days visiting Paris.
"I did not understand. When you are young, naturally you do not understand. I turned over onto my stomach, in a movement of self-defence, so that it would stop. It was Joaquim Pueyo who was behind me," he recounted to the public broadcaster.
Pueyo's defence
The former politician's lawyer told Radio France that he attached "no value" to these accounts, specifying that his client is at the disposal of the justice system if it wishes to hear from him. Ouest-France also reports that Joaquim Pueyo "strongly contests" the new accusations levelled against him.
Source: Google News LU FR