A former physiotherapist from Moselle was sentenced to four years in prison, including one year in prison, for sexual assault on around ten patients. This 40-year-old man, married and a father, was tried this Wednesday by the Metz Criminal Court. Living in Créhange for around ten years, he was prosecuted for acts committed in 2019 and 2020: in this case, touching of private parts (breasts, buttocks, genitals) of young women, including one who was eight months pregnant. She was the one who alerted the authorities in March 2020.
“Gestures of tenderness, not those of a professional”
At the hearing, five of the ten victims came to tell what they had experienced, still very moved four years after the events. All described the same modus operandi: appointments early in the morning, between noon or late in the evening, when there is no one left in the office. The practitioner imposed on them “wellness massages“, far from the usual therapeutic gestures. The victims describe having their panties pulled down more than necessary, fingers brushing their breasts, massaging their buttocks, their tetany, the fear of protesting for fear of violence.”His hands slowed down near my breasts. They were caresses, not technical gestures.“, explains one of them. Others confess their permanent distrust, and no longer able to consult male doctors. One of the victims, often injured because of his intensive practice of dance, even gave up a professional career: “Dancing with a man, being touched, it’s no longer possible for me“.
At the bar, the defendant seems not to understand: “I was following the protocol, my hand slipped“. “On ten different women, and repeatedly on each of them?“, asks Me Loïc De Graëve, lawyer of one of the victims. The argument does not convince the representatives of theorder of physiotherapists of Moselle, which constituted itself as a civil party in this case: “Our hands are our work tools. We master them“, insists Charles Lamarche, its vice-president.”And if we have to approach intimate areas, we warn and obtain the patient’s consent.“, adds the lawyer of the order, Me Stanislas Louvel. The profession is also engaged for several years in the fight against sexual violence in the context of therapeutic care. An agreement was signed to this effect last March in Moselle, to facilitate reporting to the public prosecutors of Metz, Thionville and Sarreguemines.These cases are extremely rare, but they bring shame on the entire profession.“, Mr. Louvel again pleaded.
“No sexual connotation”
The defense lawyer, Mr. Mehdi Adjemi, rejects all perversity at his client’s: “The law allows physiotherapists to touch other people’s bodies, so the court must decide whether my client had sexual intentions. I tell you, no. He just did his job badly: he should have warned his patients.“His criminal record was clean.
After five hours of hearing, the prosecutor, Jordan d’Ancona, who fears “that other victims do not come forward“, is demanding four years in prison, including one year in prison, with a one-month deferred committal order: he wants the defendant to spend the prison term behind bars, while giving him time to organize his incarceration. The former physiotherapist, who was banned from practicing during the judicial investigation, is today veterinary assistant.
The court sentenced the man to four years in prison, three of which were suspended, but with a reduced sentence for the firm part, compulsory treatment, obligation to compensate the victims (i.e., all civil parties combined, nearly 30,000 euros in damages), registration in the Fijais (file of perpetrators of sexual offences), prohibition on contacting the victims and permanent ban on practicing the profession of physiotherapistHis lawyer, Mr Adjemi, will advise him not to appeal this decision.
