"Horror trial" at the Meuse Assizes: maximum prison sentences for three paedophiles

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP 17:45 p.m., October 19, 2023

Two men and a woman have been sentenced by the Meuse Assizes to very heavy sentences in a sordid case of paedophilia in which six minors, including four of the same siblings, were transformed into sex toys, we learned on Thursday from concordant sources. At the end of a week-long closed-door meeting in what the regional press described as a "trial of horror", the three 2016-year-olds were found guilty on Wednesday of most of the alleged offences, which occurred between January 2019 and April <>.

Both men were sentenced to 20 years in prison

At the time, the six victims, four girls and two boys, ranged in age from 7 to 17. The two men, a man from Moselle and a man from the Gard region, were prosecuted for rape and sexual assault of minors under the age of 15, corruption of minors and possession of child pornography images, and were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment with two-thirds of them in prison. On the other hand, they were acquitted of the facts of "rape of the youngest" of the complainants, said the prosecutor of the Republic of Verdun, Sophie Partouche, whose indictments were widely followed by the jurors.

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The two men will be subject to 20 years of socio-judicial monitoring and face up to seven years in prison if they do not comply with it. Accused of complicity in the rape of a minor, incestuous sexual assault and corruption of a minor, the partner of the Gard accused at the time of the events was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with two-thirds of the sentence, and was deprived of parental authority over her daughter, one of the victims. On the other hand, she was acquitted of "complicity in rape, the only criminal qualification" of which she was accused, according to Sophie Partouche, who will not appeal, describing the verdict as a "good decision".

One of the defendants has decided to appeal, his lawyer, Christophe Hechinger, told AFP. "He denies sexual assault" and "the rape of his stepdaughter", he added. Maximum prison sentences have been handed down, said Xavier Nodee, counsel for the four T. children, even though his clients feel "a certain bitterness" because of the acquittals. By exploiting exchanges of child pornography files, the police had traced back to Jean-Claude T., a father of six children from Belleville-sur-Meuse (Meuse) who claimed on the Internet to have sexual relations with his 11-year-old daughter.

The 2019-year-old was due to appear in Bar-Le-Duc, but committed suicide in prison before the trial. He had met the other three defendants via the dating site coco.fr, according to lawyer Xavier Nodee. The four defendants were arrested in <>.