The "Morvan Raven" sentenced after 20 years of obscene letters in Nièvre
A 67-year-old farmer has been sentenced to one year in prison with a suspended sentence for sending hundreds of insulting anonymous letters over two decades.
A Morvan village traumatised for two decades by anonymous mail
A 67-year-old farmer was sentenced on Monday, 1 June, to one year in prison with a suspended sentence by the Nevers tribunal (Nièvre) for having inundated residents of Morvan for nearly twenty years with insulting, degrading and sexually explicit anonymous letters. According to France Info, the man — nicknamed "the Morvan Raven" — was also banned from contacting his victims.
Dozens of victims plunged into distress
Throughout this period, the raven invaded the privacy of dozens of households via obscene and threatening mail. Valérie Bernadat, a retired woman living in an isolated farmhouse, received three in the space of seven months. "The first time, I was completely stunned when I opened the mail, thinking: what's going on? Who hates me so much that they'd write such horrors to me?", she testifies.
The letters contained obscene language, pornographic clippings and threatening phrases such as "see you soon, I'll be back". Valérie filed a complaint immediately, but anxiety became established for the long term. She began to lock herself inside at home and to suspect those close to her. "You tell yourself that there's someone lurking about. What I blame this raven for is that you feel insulted, soiled, wronged, and in danger somehow," she continues.
Fear of others' judgment paralysed many victims
Valérie did not then know that she was not alone. Dozens of residents had received similar letters. Yet few of them dared file a complaint, held back by fear of reprisals or a sense of guilt. A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, explains the shock felt: "You don't expect that at all in a small rural village. You think: how far can this person go? Will it just be words? Can he do what he said in the letter? You don't know."
Gilles Martin, who attended school with the raven, also received pornographic montages. These accused him of invented affairs with the wives of his friends, while identical letters were sent to the husbands concerned. "One day, I might run into someone who received a letter saying I'd had relations with his wife, and he might beat me up in the middle of the street," he notes.
Unmasked by his neighbours, he invokes childhood trauma
The raven was finally unmasked two years ago by his own neighbours, putting an end to two decades of collective psychosis. During questioning by the gendarmes, the man explained his actions through childhood trauma associated with alcohol consumption. His lawyer refused to answer questions from France Télévisions. His partner, filmed with a hidden camera, declared: "There's nothing to understand, it's none of your business."
Sentenced to one year in prison with a suspended sentence, the farmer can now go back to living in the heart of the Morvan village whose daily life he had profoundly disrupted throughout all those years.
Source: France Info