A little over a year after the revelations of sextape blackmail, the team of Gaël Perdriau, mayor of Saint-Etienne, is once again at the heart of a dubious affair. An investigation of Mediapart, published on Sunday, reveals that Pierre Gauttieri, former chief of staff of the mayor, and the communicator Gilles Rossary-Lenglet wanted to trap Michel Thiollière, former mayor of the town, by filming him without his knowledge with an underage foreign prostitute. This plan was developed (and recorded) during the summer of 2015, six months after trapping former first deputy Gilles Artigues with a young man in a hotel room.
The investigative media thus published a video – which appears to be recorded by the political communicator without the former chief of staff being aware – in which the two men discuss the “modalities” of the plan. Their objective is to “put a “16 and a half year old” prostitute into the hands of the former mayor, because, they say, “it’s an account that still sounds like a child.” They also point out that “it has to be a kid who doesn’t understand anything”. “Is she a Frenchwoman?” Is she Romanian? Or a Bulgarian? “, then adds Pierre Gauttieri, explaining that it will be necessary to “re-exfiltrate it elsewhere” and that “no one [n’entende] talk about her.”
Political disagreement and personal resentment as justifications for harming the former mayor
After talking about the number of hidden cameras, the location of the trap and how they would pay the young girl, the two men imagine the discussion with Michel Thiollière, once they are in possession of the video. Gilles Rossary-Lenglet then said to his interlocutor: “He may commit suicide […] We agree that… how should I say it? We don’t care. » Pierre Gauttieri agrees.
According to the online newspaper, this operation against the former elected official is due to political disagreement and personal resentment. However, the plan was not implemented due to “the loss of momentum of the former mayor, ostracized from local political life in the following months”, explains Mediapart.
It was Gilles Rossary-Lenglet who, at the end of September, handed over a copy of the video to the investigating judges hearing the sex tape case against Gilles Artigues. He first mentioned the existence of this trap when he was in police custody on April 4. Since then, like three other protagonists – including Gaël Perdriau – in the history of the sex tape, he has been indicted.