“An Absolute Scandal”: Paris Periscolaire Animator Accused of Rape, Family Faces “Wall of Silence”
A periscolaire animator, previously removed from a Parisian school due to reports of psychological violence against students, is now suspected of raping a 3-year-old child in another Paris school after merely being transferred. The victim’s family lawyer, Louis Calliez, on RMC, denounces the silence of the Paris City Hall and demands a judicial investigation, a month after the complaint was filed.
This marks another sexual assault scandal in Paris schools. A complaint has been filed for rape against an animator suspected of assaulting a 3-year-old child at the Volontaires school in the 15th arrondissement.
“It’s a family whose life stopped a month ago when their 3-year-old child in nursery school revealed acts of anal penetration committed by a periscolaire animator,” explained the family’s lawyer, Louis Calliez, on Thursday, March 12, on the program “Les Grandes Gueules.”
“They filed a complaint on February 10, and it’s been a month since this child was interviewed by the child protection brigade, as should have been the case. If you interview a 3-year-old child 45 days later, the statements will be vaguer. Yet, in the shower, when his mother asked him to recall the rules of intimacy, he explicitly named an animator and described acts constituting rape,” he continued on RMC Story, referring to “anal penetration.” “To my knowledge, this animator is free. He is suspended and preparing his defense. We will be faced with the word of an adult, who knows how to prepare given his history of predation, against the word of a child,” deplored the lawyer, who is demanding custody and a search.
It has been a month since his clients have been trying to “cross-reference all the information,” attempting to understand the animator’s background by contacting other concerned families.
A Suspect Known to the Administration?
The man suspected of rape had just been transferred from the Saint-Dominique school in the neighboring 7th arrondissement after reports in September against several animators for mistreatment and psychological violence.
“There is one case per day (in each arrondissement) and in my case, the absolute scandal is that the suspect was transferred, exfiltrated, and moved on December 15 from another school, the Saint-Dominique school. Because it is the same CASPE (the School Affairs District, a local level managed by the central city hall) that manages periscolaire activities in the 7th and 15th arrondissements,” continued lawyer Louis Cailliez on RMC.
This reassignment is confirmed by the Paris City Hall to France Inter with “a warned and reinforced supervision”: “They talk to us about re-framing, second chances, but they don’t warn the second school that receives the garbage! It’s not true that there was reinforced supervision. I know that this animator arrived at the Volontaires school without the management being informed,” insisted the victim’s family’s lawyer. “There are two possibilities: either they fob off an animator on you and tell the new school ‘beware of him’ and it’s the responsibility of the second school that leaves him in contact with the young children. Or they don’t tell the second school,” says Louis Caillez.
Since the events, the Paris City Hall has not contacted the little girl’s family: “It’s general psychosis, families are panicking. There are public meetings, but the institutions practice doublespeak and only confront this mother with theories. They tell the mother that the animator did not manage the small sanctions and was always in a pair, it must be said that this is not the case. They confront her with the theory and she tries to understand the practice.”
“For the Mother, It’s Horror”
“There is a judicial wall of silence and an administrative wall of silence with opacity from the city hall. And for the child’s mother, it’s horror,” adds the lawyer. So why doesn’t the city hall act? “I think it’s the classic ‘don’t make waves’ phenomenon, there are recruitment problems and obviously an infiltration of deviant people.” “The first Saint-Dominique school, we are talking about 9 animators suspended and about thirty complaints. A priori, we are heading towards a system of organized network of animators who co-opt each other, who perhaps recruit each other. It’s possible. The recruitment system is catastrophic,” he claims.
“This is One of the Biggest Periscolaire Scandals in France”
Today, he wants to break “the wall of silence” as the summons of the family and the victim to the police services should arrive “end of March.” “I ask for the opening of a judicial investigation: we are in one of the biggest periscolaire scandals that Paris and perhaps France has ever known. Immediate searches are needed, today it is too late, the cleaning has been done.” “You entrust the flesh of your flesh to unknown people, without transparency, the only way to provide safeguards is to provide an impeccable vision and the principle of precaution must go beyond the sexual. Just yelling at a child is not normal,” continues the lawyer.
Towards a Class Action Lawsuit?
“There is a titanic work but judicially, we must move up a gear,” urges Louis Cailliez. “The parents of the two schools with whom I am in contact are discussing a class action lawsuit for endangerment, there could be a criminal judicial investigation” that could target those responsible for the affair at the administrative and political level. “It’s to know how in the pathways, it was said in a public meeting that it had been decided to extend the animator’s internship period and that his internship site was changed. Gobbledygook to say that we change arrondissement and sweep the dust under the carpet,” he concludes.
Our questions remain unanswered:
- Why was an animator with previous reports of psychological violence simply transferred to another school with young children?
- What specific measures, if any, did the Paris City Hall take to ensure the safety of children after the initial reports against the animator?
- Why has the 3-year-old victim not yet been interviewed by the child protection brigade, despite the complaint being filed a month ago?
- Is there a systemic issue within the periscolaire recruitment process that allows individuals with problematic backgrounds to remain in contact with children?
- What is the Paris City Hall’s official response to the family’s accusations of a “wall of silence” and lack of transparency?
What’s next?
The family’s lawyer is pushing for a judicial investigation, which would grant more extensive powers for search and seizure. The possibility of a class action lawsuit by parents from both affected schools is also being discussed, targeting administrative and political officials for endangerment. Meanwhile, the victim’s family awaits a police interview scheduled for the end of March, hoping for a breakthrough in their quest for justice.
