This Friday, a youth worker was sentenced to twenty years in prison by the Pas-de-Calais Assize Court for rape and sexual assault on children aged 3 to 6. The events took place between 2015 and 2017, in the infamous city of Outreau.
The former host, now 33, was sentenced to twenty years in prison. This sentence was accompanied by a safety period of 11 years. The man was found guilty of rape and sexual assault on 13 children, 12 boys and a girl, committed while he was an animator in a socio-cultural center and employed in schools in Outreau. On the other hand, he was acquitted of the facts of sexual assault on a child, which he has always denied. He was also sentenced for viewing and possessing child pornography images, including videos of his actions filmed by his own camera.
The town hall of Outreau had not reacted
Described by his colleagues as “discreet and professional”, the host was nevertheless surprised on two occasions, locked up with a child in a classroom. Alerted, the town hall of Outreau had not reacted. “A hallucinating failure”, moved Me Benoist, the lawyer of the association La Voix de l’Enfant. For him, the report “should have been enough to investigate. Instead, we will allow this man to continue his assaults for fourteen months. “
At the hearing, the defendant claimed to have acted out of “instinct”. He added that “this attraction to boys under 10, I did not choose”. “What did he do to fight his impulses?” Nothing. He organized his life and made sure he only worked with children aged 4 to 6. Because he knows very well that those will be under the influence, ”replied Me Benoist.
Thirteen victims, but “how many have not yet spoken? “
The jurors condemned him to the maximum penalty incurred, following the requisitions of the Advocate General. Relying on the conclusions of the psychiatrist expert, for whom the accused presents “a risk of recidivism difficult to exclude”, the Court also pronounced a sentence of socio-judicial follow-up for a period of 12 years, with injunction of care and prohibition of contact with minors.
The trial also made it possible to affirm the status of victims of 13 of the 14 child civil parties. “But investigations have shown that he had worked with 1,366 children during his career. How many haven’t spoken yet? “Asks Isabelle Pauwels, one of the lawyers for the civil parties.