France brings its ‘monsters’ to justice

The French prosecutor’s office recently revealed a significant investigation it has been working on for years: the case of Jacques Leveugle, a 79-year-old man who, over half a century, sexually assaulted at least 89 minors whom he taught. The case is abhorrent but not unprecedented, as just a year ago, Joël Le Scouarnec, a respected surgeon, was tried for abusing 299 patients, most of them minors, also over the course of decades. This came shortly after the most high-profile sexual violence trial in French history, that of Dominique Pelicot, who drugged his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, so that she could be raped by at least 50 men while she was unconscious.

“France is gradually lifting the veil on numerous cases of sexual violence, especially against minors, dating back decades,” explains Denis Roth-Fichet, a lawyer and secretary general of Ciivisee, the independent commission on incest and sexual violence against minors. “It’s not that there are more cases now, but rather that it’s being discussed more openly. Sexual violence has always existed; what’s happening now is that we’ve opened Pandora’s box,” he points out.

The media coverage of these cases, shocking due to the high number of victims or people involved, and the long period during which the attacks were committed without anyone noticing, “has allowed for a more general awareness of a problem that is not new, but above all it has helped to dismantle a myth in France, showing that the aggressor is not a hidden monster, but rather, in 80% of cases, it is someone who knows the victim,” says Nahilé M. of the feminist collective Nous Toutes, who asked to be identified without a surname.

Pelicot was the husband; Le Scouarnec, the doctor; and Leveugle, though without a degree, worked as a teacher. He is still awaiting trial, but as in the other cases, “he established a unique relationship with his victims that prevented them from reporting him. They were vulnerable, at-risk minors; he gained their trust and stimulated them intellectually. That’s why the victims had a certain ambivalence; they were grateful to him, and that’s why they didn’t report him voluntarily,” Grenoble prosecutor Etienne Manteaux, in charge of the investigation, explained to this newspaper.

Advances in justice

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin acknowledges a lack of consistency in procedures and wants to unify “working methods to clarify the decision-making process and standardize it nationwide.” He announced the creation of a victims’ department within the ministry and the publication of a domestic violence code, incorporating all current laws, so that every judge, regardless of where they practice, has a common framework. “A victim will not be more protected in Toulouse than in Agen,” he stated. He admitted that 70% of complaints are dismissed and the time to bring them to trial can reach six years. According to data from the Interior Ministry, complaints filed with law enforcement increased by 8% last year, a figure that has been rising since 2016. Minors represent 58% of the victims.

“For years, some of these serial criminals continued to operate and were in contact with minors despite previous convictions. Today, these cases are coming to light because there is less impunity, there has been progress in investigations, which have allowed for the discovery of massive amounts of evidence in digital records, and there is also a greater willingness to speak out,” explains Roth-Fichet.

Leveugle and Le Scouarnec recorded their crimes in diaries and notebooks. Pelicot filmed the rapes. “The discovery of the facts was by chance. In Leveugle’s case, for example, because his nephew gave the police a USB drive containing suspicious photos. The important thing in these cases is that there was a complaint, an investigation was carried out, and the necessary records were made that allowed the evidence to be found,” the Grenoble prosecutor emphasized.

In the case of Dominique Pelicot, a woman reported him for filming her up her skirt in a supermarket. The store’s security guard encouraged her to do so. Le Scouarnec was arrested after a young girl filed a complaint. “It’s not that victims have been freed to speak out, it’s that there is now more active listening, partly thanks to the media coverage of these cases,” adds Nahilé M. of Nous Toutes.

Special courts

Between 2016 and 2023, reports of sexual violence increased by 120%. According to the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women (Miprof), a woman is a victim of rape, sexual assault, or attempted abuse every two minutes. In France, the law distinguishes between the crime of rape (when there is penetration) and sexual assault.

Most sexual offenses are tried in correctional courts, which were created in 2019 to relieve pressure on criminal courts. Sexual offenses account for 62% of all offenses prosecuted in these courts. Feminist organizations criticize them for being less professional and for providing poorer treatment to victims.

They also criticize the fact that statistics on homicides within couples do not differentiate between sexes, even though the victims are predominantly women. “We demand that femicide be included in the Penal Code, because only in this way will there be greater awareness of this scourge,” says the spokesperson for Nous Toutes. Miprof records 167 femicides in 2024. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were 107.

Thanks to the pressure following the Gisèle Pelicot case, the notion of consent has recently been included in the definition of rape in the Penal Code. “The law doesn’t change mindsets, but it does help with justice,” says the spokesperson for Nous Toutes. Another change spurred by these cases is the extension of the statute of limitations for crimes against minors. “It has helped to look back and investigate older cases. It allows for the reopening of cases that had been forgotten and for appeals to be made to gather testimonies. The #MeToo movement is also freeing people up to speak out, encouraging victims to come forward,” says Roth-Singlet.

Minors

The result is that since 2020, according to Ciivise figures, there have been 56% more people charged with rape or sexual assault of minors. The statute of limitations has increased from 20 to 30 years in rape cases, “because a minor’s testimony is released much later than an adult’s, and sometimes they are not even aware of the assault,” according to Roth-Singlet.

A child is a victim of incest, rape, or sexual assault every three minutes. Three children in every classroom are victims of incest, representing 10% of children in the country. In three out of five cases, the child was not believed, according to figures from the State Secretariat for Children. According to the head of Ciivise, “Incest is still a taboo. Obtaining a child’s testimony is still difficult, but we are seeing a trend: they are getting younger and younger, in many cases babies. Violence against children is shocking, but this is even more shocking.”

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