A Parisian lawyer specializing in social law was sentenced on Friday on appeal to a one-year suspended prison sentence for taking images with his phone under the skirts of three women within his office, a sentence identical to that at first instance.
The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment handed down on July 8, 2021, by which the 61-year-old lawyer was found guilty of “voyeurism by a person abusing their authority” and “attack on the privacy of private life », in 2014 and 2019, while he was a partner in a large business firm in the capital.
His counsel did not wish to make a statement.
The phone between the legs
The case began in the summer of 2019 with the complaint of a young woman, then an intern in another team. In court, she declared that, during an appointment on August 2, 2019 intended to help her with her professional orientation, the lawyer had invited her to go around his office to enter information on his computer . As she stood in front of him, she heard the characteristic sound of a video starting and then saw the lawyer’s phone between her legs, before quickly leaving the scene, “groggy”.
The investigators then found two former collaborators who had reported similar facts in the spring and summer of 2014: in the same situation, the first explained having seen “flashes”, the second having seen the phone turned upwards, not far behind her. They left the office shortly after.
No suspicious files were found on the defendant’s phones but, after two assessments, the possibility that photos or videos were taken, then deleted, remains possible.
Patrick T. was ordered to pay them 3,000 to 4,000 euros in damages respectively. On appeal, the civil action of two former partners of the firm, of which he is no longer a member, was however declared inadmissible.