Sexual violence in after-school care: 78 staff suspended in Paris, scandals across France
Since late 2025, numerous cases of physical and sexual violence against minors have emerged in France, principally in Paris. 78 municipal staff members have been suspended, of whom 31 are suspected of sexual assault against children.
After-school care: wave of suspensions and trials in Paris following months of scandals
Since the end of 2025, a series of cases involving physical and sexual violence committed during after-school care has shaken the whole of France, according to BFM TV. The situation is most serious in Paris: 78 City staff members have been suspended since January 2026, of whom 31 are suspected of sexual violence against children. The Paris public prosecutor's office has opened investigations into possible violence in 85 nursery schools, some twenty primary schools and about ten crèches.
Measures announced by the Mayor of Paris
On Friday 10 July, at a press conference, the new Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, presented a series of measures intended to reform the operation of after-school care in Paris. He had already stated on 18 May that "considerable measures" had been taken since taking office and that, in the face of the crisis, he preferred "to be unjust towards staff members" rather than "take the slightest risk with respect to children". A complaint also names the former Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, who served from 2014 to 2026, as well as Emmanuel Grégoire in his capacity as serving mayor since March 2026.
Series of arrests in Paris
On 20 May, about ten activity leaders from the Parisian schools Saint-Dominique, Rapp and La Rochefoucauld were arrested. Six days later, 16 people were taken into custody in connection with the same scandal affecting three establishments in the capital. Following questioning, three of them were brought before an investigating judge; two activity leaders were remanded in custody.
One of the activity leaders charged with sexual assault at Saint-Dominique nursery school in the 7th arrondissement had been hired by the Paris City council in 2025, despite having already been the subject of a complaint for more than a year regarding incest charges made by his own son.
First public trial and contested acquittals
On 26 May, the first public trial of the scandal opened before the Paris correctional tribunal: an activity leader at Alphonse-Baudin nursery school, aged 36, was appearing on charges of sexual assault against nine children aged 3 to 5 years. He contested the charges. Three years' imprisonment, of which one year in full custody with electronic monitoring, were sought against him.
On 16 June, the Paris correctional tribunal acquitted a former activity leader from Titon school who had been accused by nine pupils of sexual assault and sexual harassment, determining that "the offence was not sufficiently established". Pénélope Ponchelet, mother of a victim, said she was "shocked" and "outraged" in an interview with BFM TV. Élisabeth Guthmann, co-founder of the SOS Périscolaire collective, described the decision as "intolerable". The public prosecutor appealed. On 7 July, another after-school care activity leader was acquitted in Paris of sexual assault against children at a nursery school in the 11th arrondissement; the public prosecutor also lodged an appeal against this judgment.
Cases in the provinces
Outside the capital, several cases have also emerged. In Tarnos, in the Landes, a leisure centre activity leader in his thirties was charged and remanded in custody, suspected of three rapes and three sexual assaults against children. In the Lyon region, six complaints for rape and sexual assault against minors were filed by parents: three in Villeurbanne since June and three in Charly since April, the latter case targeting an activity leader suspected of acts against girls aged 3 to 7 at the time of the incidents. In Rouen, an investigation was opened on 22 May against a man and a woman on suspicion of sexual violence in a crèche; the two staff members were suspended pending investigations. An activity leader aged 31 working in the evening childcare and leisure centre at a school in Fléac, in Charente, was also taken into custody on suspicion of sexual assault against two children.
Trade union and parental mobilisation
On 19 May, activity leaders and staff at Parisian schools demonstrated in the capital, denouncing the "climate of suspicion" created since the implementation in April of the mayor's action plan against sexual violence in after-school care. Trade unions estimated attendance at "between 1,500 and 2,000 staff members" and announced that they were expecting mobilisation "of similar scale" at the next action.
Parents gathered on Thursday outside a nursery school in the 7th arrondissement to protest against "State inaction and lack of response". Following the acquittal of an activity leader, they judged that the courts had sent "a signal of immense gravity". Sophia Chikirou's group on the Paris Council announced on 11 June a referral to the prosecutor as part of these revelations.
Calls for structural reform
At a press conference held on 28 May, Unicef called on France to move away from a stance of "reaction" to build a "culture of protection" founded on children's rights. The NGO condemned the "culture of normalising violence" and proposed several measures to strengthen prevention and victim support.
The National Education authority also expressed its intention to place staff members who had engaged in "unacceptable behaviour" towards minors at school on a "blacklist". However, private law professor Olivier Cahn warned of the risk of legal ambiguity linked to this measure, whose effectiveness he is not convinced by.
Source: BFM TV