Nantes Court: victim of child sexual abuse denounces judicial system indifference
On Monday 22 June 2026, the prosecutor and president of the Nantes judicial court organised a public meeting to address questions about child sexual abuse, following revelations from the Lyhanna case.
Nantes Court: victim of child sexual abuse denounces judicial system indifference
On 22 June 2026, around one hundred people gathered in Nantes at the initiative of the public prosecutor's office and the president of the judicial court. The objective was to discuss how cases of child sexual abuse are handled. This public meeting coincided with the publication of an inspection report on the Lyhanna case.
Prosecutor Antoine Leroy clarified at the outset that this approach aimed to "answer questions and not to justify". Over the past decade, reports of sexual assault at Nantes police station have increased by 40%.
Several testimonies made a strong impression. Fabrice, aged 62, recounted having been amnesic for half a century regarding the violence he suffered during his childhood. A phone call received fifteen days ago, following media revelations about Lyhanna, allowed him to break this silence. "Thank you Lyhanna, it is sad to say that. It is abominable, everybody doesn't care!", he declared angrily.
Karine, another person present, spoke of the violence suffered by her daughter within the family in Nantes. She denounced the investigation delays which, according to her, allowed her son to also become a victim of abuse subsequently.
Participants raised many questions: the length of proceedings, the fact that doubt systematically favours the accused, and the lack of continuity in interviewing victims and suspects by the same investigators.
The magistrate described the Lyhanna case as a "turning point" in how these crimes are being taken into account. Faced with sceptics who feared emotion would fade, he answered in the negative.
Eric Kuhn, spokesman for the Enfantistes collective, called for additional resources for police, justice, social services for children and the hospital sector. For her part, Anaïs Zerri, deputy prosecutor and representative of the magistracy union, highlighted budgetary shortfalls: "The major problem is investigative resources. We are starting from very far back in the justice budget."
Source: ici.fr
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)