A former leader of the Poitiers police, tried for sexual assault on young men, was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for touching three former scouts, all adults, we learned from the parties at trial. The Poitiers Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal pronounced at first instance by the La Rochelle criminal court and sentenced Jean-Christophe M., without however ordering registration in the file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses (FIJAIS) as requested by the public prosecutor. At the hearing on September 23, the attorney general requested five years in prison, four of which were suspended.
Me Lionel Béthune de Moro, lawyer for the former police commander, told AFP that he intended to appeal to the Court of Cassation, saying he “dejected but not surprised” facing a “feeling of legal trap”. Former number 2 of the Poitiers police force, Jean-Christophe M. was also responsible for the Scouts de France. It was in this context that he knew several young men, who accused him of sexual assault following drunken evenings in the 2000s, often while they shared the same bed as their former scout leader, twenty years their senior. A fourth former scout did not appeal the dismissal order concerning him.
“Almost a presumption of guilt”
“The Poitiers Court of Appeal has restored their honor to the victims”reacted to AFP Me Benoît Chabert, lawyer for one of the civil parties. “It is the victory of the courage of the victims who held on despite the obstacles. To get there, I had to move mountains because of Jean-Christophe M.'s status as a locally influential police officer and the male gender of the victims.”he argued.
For his part, Me Lionel Béthune de Moro refuted any preferential treatment concerning his client, emphasizing “on the contrary” that his status as a judicial police officer had been withdrawn following his indictment, even before his conviction pronounced on Wednesday. “I find that he had a legal and media fate which is still unenviable”he pleaded, denouncing a conviction “which gives pride of place to emotion”. “We have the impression that the position, precisely, of number 2 of the Vienna police meant that it was almost a presumption of guilt.”
France
