the essential
The Cahors public prosecutor's office confirmed to La Dépêche that an investigation was underway into acts described as rape and sexual assault on two children, aged 7 and 11 respectively, by another 13-year-old minor.
In the seconds that follow, when we tell him the purpose of our call, we hear his throat tighten. Without seeing her, we already imagine her on the verge of tears: “We don’t know if other children could have been victims,” sobs Virginie*. If we call this mother who lives in a small village in the canton of Luzech, it is because The Dispatch learned that two children aged 11 and 7 respectively were interviewed by the Gourdon gendarmes in mid-August to denounce acts of rape and sexual assault. The following month, complaints were filed. The Dispatch was able to meet the parents of the victims, who blame a 13-year-old child. Virginie's son, Jean*, 11 years old, was allegedly the victim of rape.
“Mom, it’s true”
As is often the case in this type of business, we could have known nothing. The starting point of this story is a mother, Aurélie*, whose 7-year-old child was allegedly sexually assaulted by this 13-year-old. The latter would have taken advantage of the night to act when he came to sleep at Aurélie's family home. He then managed to touch her genitals against her will. But the little one had “enough character” to say no, and for things to go no further, explains Aurélie.
Things don't stop there. In this small Lotois village where everything is told, Emilie learns from a relative of the alleged attacker's family the name of another child who would have been his victim: Jean. Emilie alerts her family.
Also read:
INFO LA DEPECHE. Toulouse: A man in police custody for rape, the 15-year-old victim was allegedly attacked near a nightclub
To find out what's going on, Jean's parents first question his older brother to see if he has noticed anything. Negative response, but he takes it upon himself to talk to his younger brother about it: “Mom, it’s true, mom, it’s true. » These are the words of this panicked big brother who calls his parents to tell them the news. Jean admitted to having been “touched” by the alleged attacker. “As soon as he saw us, he collapsed on the ground, in tears, while apologizing,” his mother says today, upset and her throat still tight with sobs. “From there, we understood that something had happened. We called the parents, they came with the kid. It is not yet clear what happened at that time. We thought they had been giving each other handjobs,” says the father.
It is only later that they understand that the facts are much more serious. First, they would have lasted at least two years. “That’s when we realized a lot of things. Like for two years he was swirling his hair, he had a hole in the middle of his hair. We thought it was a fake. We understood that he had not felt good about himself for years,” the father continues.
“We hope that their children will be taken away from them”
As for the facts, they make parents fear the worst: “He gave us information, but he didn't have the strength to tell us more. The gendarmerie investigator did not have the right to give us information following her interview. But she clarified that if there had been no penetration, there was, in her opinion, rape. »
Could these facts have been prevented? The parents are convinced of this. Like this time when the father of the alleged attacker surprised the two children touching each other. That day, he flew into a rage and dropped Jean off at his parents' house, but without telling them. “We do not understand why from the first incident the parents did not react to ensure that their child did not end up alone with others. We said it loud and clear in the village. We hope that they will take their children away from them because they are not doing their job,” say Jean's parents who, by agreeing to testify to The Dispatchwant to believe that other parents will ask their children if they could have been a victim of the teenager. And contact justice.
Also read:
“Ejaculation contest”, suspicion of rape of a minor… A teacher dismissed from National Education caught by the courts
“What is important is that the “unsaid” has been broken, that all the victims, the attacker and the families concerned can be helped so that these events do not happen again. “Let everyone be made aware of the fact that children must learn fundamental prohibitions and the notion of consent from an early age,” says the mother of the 7-year-old. The parents of the two attacked children joined their complaint. But at least another could see the light of day (see elsewhere).
When contacted, the parents of the alleged attacker did not wish to comment. For its part, the Cahors public prosecutor's office confirms that an investigation is underway.
“You have to let me do it.”
If two complaints have been filed, a third could see the light of day. Since another child, Jules*, this time of the same age as the alleged attacker, reported similar facts to his parents. “My wife wants to file a complaint but first I want to meet victim support associations so that I can choose the right procedure, the right way to do things,” tells us the father of the victim who lives in the same village as her alleged attacker . “My son is on the verge of autism, we want to be supported in our approach. »
Attacked on the school bus
More precisely, it was on the school bus, during the spring of 2024, that this middle school student was allegedly sexually assaulted. “He said a sentence to her that took us by surprise: 'I have needs. You have to let me do it because otherwise I'll be forced to take it on smaller people, on others.' This is not the phraseology of a 13-year-old child,” worries the father.
Failing to file a complaint, Jules' parents called the Gourdon gendarmerie to explain that they were available, if necessary: ”We would have liked him to be heard very quickly, otherwise we are afraid that he will be influenced by this we can ask him, we want it to be authentic. »
For this desolate father, it is also urgent that the facts be revealed: “We must protect the children who come into contact with this attacker,” he believes while admitting his helplessness. “We also realize that we are very helpless and that we do not know how to react. And then somewhere, we want to run away, to leave everything behind. »
The first name has been changed