Dozens of potential victims, repeated acts over several years or even decades… A case of child rape is being brought to light in Doubs. Three brothers, now aged over 70, are suspected of being the perpetrators of acts against children in their family or looked after by their wives. 20 minutes takes stock of this sordid affair.
How did the affair start?
You have to go back to March 31, 2021, according to The Republican East. That day, a schoolgirl confided in her establishment and said she had been abused by her nanny, in Saône (Doubs), when she was little. Thanks to a call for witnesses, the gendarmes of Tarragnoz, a district of Besançon, then found nine victims. Six complaints were ultimately upheld and the accused, now 73 years old, was sentenced last June to five years in prison.
At the hearing, he had difficulty admitting the facts about the six complainants, all of whom were looked after by his wife. Rapes which then spread over sixteen years, between 2004 and 2020. End of the story? No, since the military then continued their investigations.
Where is the investigation?
It is now targeting two of the brothers of the imprisoned septuagenarian. The eldest (78 years old), who was also in a relationship with a childminder, in Valdahon (Doubs), admitted to the gendarmes having attacked eight children, according to the regional daily. The police are still looking for them and the man, who attempted suicide, is free.
His youngest child, too, is at large, even though he has just been indicted. A woman accuses him of abuse when she was placed in foster care with him, from the age of 18 months to the age of 16, still in Doubs. Investigators also found two other victims of this 70-year-old man: his sister-in-law and his niece.
Were the three brothers acting together?
Three brothers, all in relationships with people responsible for childcare, the question inevitably arises. But she doesn’t have an answer yet. According to The Republican East, the three men said they were “fallen from the clouds” when they learned of the actions of the other members of the siblings. One of the three admitted to having been raped during his childhood, spent in a home in Villers-Saint-Martin (Doubs).
“Given what we see at this time in the case, there is a strong fear that there will be other victims,” believes the public prosecutor of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux. It’s important that they make themselves known. »