Murder of Lyhanna, 11: suspect already reported multiple times for sexual assaults on minors
In France, the murder of an eleven-year-old girl in the Gers department has shocked the country. The main suspect, a man in his forties, was already the subject of several reports for sexual assaults on children, without authorities taking firm measures.
Murder of Lyhanna, 11: suspect already reported multiple times for sexual assaults on minors
The body of an eleven-year-old child was discovered in a grain silo near her home, in the heart of the Gers department in south-west France. Lyhanna disappeared on the last Friday of May after leaving school. A vast search operation was launched, involving divers, dogs, helicopters and drones. Six days later, hopes of finding her alive collapsed.
The main suspect is a forty-one-year-old man, Jérôme Barella, father of the victim's best friend. Surveillance cameras recorded him offering a ride to Lyhanna as she left school. He initially told investigators he had dropped her off near a swimming pool, but his account was deemed contradictory. He was arrested the next day and charged with abduction.
What shocked public opinion was the man's criminal history. He had already been reported to police multiple times for sexual violence against minors. In 2015, a mother reported his relationship with a seventeen-year-old girl, but the case was closed because the young woman claimed she attended their meetings of her own volition. In 2022, he was investigated for the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl, but the evidence gathered did not permit prosecution.
Even worse: the previous summer, another mother filed a complaint, alleging that Barella had sexually assaulted her ten-year-old daughter repeatedly in his home. A gynaecological examination confirmed violence. The case file was forwarded to the public prosecutor's office in Toulouse, then to that in Auch, but the man was never questioned. The complainant told the newspaper La Dépêche that she called the police every week, before she was threatened with prosecution if she continued.
Barella is currently the subject of at least four reports for rape or sexual assault, as well as nine other complaints for unlawful behaviour. He has not responded to investigators' questions since his arrest.
The case provoked a wave of outrage across France. Thousands of people demonstrated demanding better protection for children against sexual predators, as well as the resignation of Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin and prosecutor Rémy Heitz. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced his intention to increase sentences against repeat offenders of violence and to establish investigation deadlines in cases involving harm to minors.
Magistrates and prosecutors, however, are calling for calm, claiming they are understaffed and overwhelmed. Some of them are reported to have received death threats.
Source: Deník.cz
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)