The investigating chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeal ordered, on Friday, June 28, 2024, the exceptional extension of the pre-trial detention of the former manager of the Loges bar in Saint-Brieuc, accused of rape by three young women.
As a reminder, the 33-year-old man is accused of having inflicted a first rape on a 19-year-old woman within the establishment he managed, Plan du Chai, between June 12 and 13, 2021. In the process, two other young women – minors – had reported similar facts. He had therefore been placed in pre-trial detention on June 23, 2021, and this same investigating chamber had also confirmed, on February 2, 2024, that there were sufficient charges against him to refer him to the departmental criminal court of Côtes-d’Armor.
The fact remains that the thirty-year-old should have appeared before the beginning of August 2024, but the caseload weighing on the criminal court does not allow his trial to be scheduled within the legal deadlines. It is indeed planned to have him appear between December 18 and 20, 2024, but this Thursday, June 27, 2024, the investigating chamber even mentioned a possible hearing in early 2025.
1,100 days in prison already served
Pending his judgment, the public prosecutor had therefore seized the investigating chamber with a request for an exceptional extension of his “provisional” detention. The former bar manager admitted to the first rape reported, after being confronted with video recordings. The man was in fact filming his acts, in particular by hiding equipment in the toilets.
His lawyer, for his part, deplored the 1,100 days of pretrial detention already served by the bar owner. However, since an email from the registry of the departmental criminal court mentioning the dates of December 18 to 20, 2024, she has never had any response. “In all likelihood, he will be tried in the first half of 2025, but we have no further details or certainties,” she argued.
Although this client has been convicted five times, mostly for property damage, he has had thirty sessions with a psychologist, is now “able to verbalize” and he “apologizes” for the acts he committed.
The accused, for his part, had expressed his wish to see his wife and daughter again, to “take back his place as a father and support them” until his own trial.
But the investigating chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeal ultimately followed the public prosecutor’s office, extending his provisional detention for six months.
