Patrick Bruel placed under examination in four cases: file grows with around thirty complaints
The singer cancelled 35 autumn concerts after being placed under examination for rape and sexual assault. Since June, around a dozen new complaints have been added to the file.
Judicial proceedings against Patrick Bruel: state of play of an expanding file
Patrick Bruel announced on Tuesday 1 September the cancellation of his 35 concerts scheduled for autumn, when his tour was supposed to resume on 2 October. According to franceinfo - Justice, the 67-year-old singer is placed under examination in four cases for rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and appears as an assisted witness in four other matters. In total, around thirty complaints concern him, including four filed by women who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents.
For several weeks, elected officials, political leaders and feminist organisations had demanded the cancellation of his performances. Singer Helena Noguerra was furthermore forced to confirm on Wednesday that she was among those claiming to have been a victim of the artist, after two media outlets revealed her testimony, initially published anonymously on Mediapart.
Patrick Bruel contests all allegations against him, stating that he has "never forced a woman". His lawyer Fanny Colin responded on France Inter: "This renunciation of the tour is not an admission. He proclaims his innocence and this is not merely a formula."
New complaints filed since the singer's placing under examination on 11 June
Since the singer was placed under examination on 11 June, around a dozen new complaints have been announced. As early as 12 June, two women came forward to the Nanterre court (Hauts-de-Seine), which is handling the investigation, according to their lawyer Jade Dousselin. The first, a 45-year-old psychotherapist named Amandine, alleges an attempted rape and sexual assault in 2007, on the sidelines of the Réunion film festival, of which Patrick Bruel was the patron. The second, who wishes to remain anonymous, mentions a rape and sexual assault in 2012.
In early summer, three further complaints revealed by Mediapart reached the investigating judges. One of the complainants, Maja, had already been heard by investigators before Patrick Bruel's police custody, but formally filed a complaint at the end of June, her lawyer Benjamin Chouai explains to franceinfo. She alleges sexual assault when she was 15 years old, in New York in 1992, on the sidelines of the US Open where she was a ball girl. The two other complainants are represented by Corinne Herrmann and Sonia Kanoun: Jeanne accuses Patrick Bruel of rape and then attempted rape in the 2000s, whilst Stéphanie* reports a rape in 2014, on the sidelines of an international poker event.
Pauline*, whose case is being followed by lawyer Tristan Vieules-Augendre, accuses the singer of raping her in the Paris region in the 2000s, when she was 16 years old and working as a model. Her counsel specifies to franceinfo that the facts would not be time-barred owing to her client's minority at the time of the incidents: "We are awaiting a judicial or police summons."
Criminal lawyer Iris Biehler announced at the end of July two additional complaints: that of Elise, who alleges rape in 1994, at age 19, in a luxury hotel in Toulouse, and that of Zoé*, who claims to have been sexually assaulted during a shoot in Rhodes, Greece, in 2005. At the end of August, a new complaint for attempted rape was filed by a woman who was, according to her lawyer Myriam Guedj-Benayoun on France Inter, "extremely young, just barely of legal age" at the time of the facts. This lawyer added that she would submit to the investigating judges in September "several testimonies from victims who do not wish to file a complaint, but who wish to provide justice with their testimony on the facts they say they suffered, essentially attempted rapes".
On Wednesday, Corinne Herrmann confirmed to franceinfo that "the filing of several complaints" was "in progress". The criminal lawyer also intends to request that the cold case unit, which specialises in unsolved serial crimes, be seized of the matter. "How is it that with all these victims who have come forward, the seriousness of this case was not taken into account?" she declared on RTL.
Four placing under examination confirmed, eight cases in total
At this stage, the investigating judges have determined that there is sufficient grave and consistent evidence to place the singer under examination in four cases. One dates back to 2008: Florima Treiber, former Miss Alsace 2007, claims to Mediapart that she met Patrick Bruel at the beauty pageant when she was 20 years old and he was 48. Invited to his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), she recounts that she suffered rape. The second case occurred two years later: Karine Viseur, Belgian press officer for the film Les Cinq Doigts de la main, accuses the artist of attempted rape at RTBF premises in Brussels in 2010.
The two other placing under examination concern the so-called "masseuses" section, a case that had been closed without further action in 2020 by the Nanterre public prosecutor's office. Julia* alleges sexual assault in a four-star spa hotel in Perpignan, where the singer was performing at the Les Déferlantes festival on 7 July 2019.
The investigating judges must now examine all of these accusations and determine which are or are not covered by the statute of limitations. Patrick Bruel remains presumed innocent. Franceinfo - Justice emphasises that testimonies continue to flow in, suggesting, according to the lawyers of the complainants, "rapid and significant developments" likely to lead to further placing under examination.
Source: franceinfo - Justice