a former club manager tried in Lyon for rape of minor players

A former coach and manager of several football clubs in the Lyon area, who was also a volunteer at OL, is on trial from Wednesday in Lyon for rape and sexual violence against several minor players.

This 67-year-old man is accused of having abused his position to rape three boys aged around ten between 1989 and 1996 and committing other sexual assaults on minors between 1993 and 1998 and in 2018, according to a judicial document consulted by AFP.

He must appear before the Rhône Assize Court until Friday and faces 20 years in prison.

“We have a real emblematic trial, with shattered victims, the real profile of a predatory child molester, and an institution that cannot react”commented to AFP Me Agnès Bouquin, who defends one of the victims.

The alleged acts all took place in an educational context or the supervision of minors licensed in football clubs, and took place in particular during trips around away matches, according to this document.

The accused was coach and then manager of the Martel Caluire club between 1981 and 1998, then was manager of AS des Buers in Villeurbanne between 2016 and 2021. He then volunteered at Olympique Lyonnais between 2018 and 2021.

“Hundreds of children have been in contact with this person”notes Me Agnès Bouquin, saying she fears that there are many victims in this case who have not been identified to date.

“We are quite terrified by the loneliness of these children in the face of the attacker. None were able to report the facts to anyone within the club, whatever the club and the era. It was justice that sought them out.”she added.

In 2020, a victim finally decided to report him after meeting him again by chance. The facts were prescribed but his complaint of rape had triggered the opening of an investigation, which made it possible to identify the other victims. One has become a civil party, and at least one other must become a civil party during the hearing.