PARIS, France: A Paris court on Tuesday acquitted a school monitor who had been accused of sexually assaulting pupils for lack of evidence, in the first of several cases in the French capital.
The 47-year-old non-teaching assistant was suspended in 2024 and was charged with sexual assault on three girls and sexual harassment of nine others when they were aged 10.
Prosecutors had requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence after he went on trial behind closed doors last month. He was accused by the children of touching one girl´s chest, telling them stories about rape, and insinuating he would kiss one girl “all over” if he could.
The court said his behaviour was “inappropriate”, but the investigation had not shown it was of “a humiliating or degrading nature” or that the children´s consequent psychological troubles were specifically due to the supervisor´s actions.
Julie Chalumeau, the lawyer of five families, said she was baffled by the ruling.
Penelope Ponchelet, the mother of one of the children, said she was “outraged”. It is the first such case to go to trial since widespread allegations of non-teaching staff at Paris schools committing sexual abuse.
Paris investigators are looking into accusations that non-teaching staff members recruited by the city mistreated or abused children at 84 kindergartens and around 20 primary schools, the Paris prosecutor has said.
Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, a Socialist who says he suffered sexual abuse himself when a child during an after-school swimming programme, has pledged to better protect children.
Since the start of the year, Paris has suspended 132 aides for alleged misconduct, including 52 suspected of “sexual or sexist abuse”, Gregoire has said.
Auxiliary staff have demanded better staffing to ensure an adult is never left alone with a child, as well as more recognition and higher pay.
Another man, a 36-year-old freelance journalist who worked in a kindergarten for additional revenue, went on trial last month charged with sexual assault of five preschoolers. A ruling in that case is due on July 7.
