The petition has grown in recent days and exceeds 25,000 signatures, helped by the media coverage of the case. Created by a collective called Emma Auclert, it will undoubtedly change nothing in history. But it highlights the unease that reigns today within the medical faculty of Limoges (Haute-Vienne).
It is within the walls of this university that Nicolas W. has been enrolled since 2021. Previously, the young man was a student in Tours, where both his parents work as a radiologist and a general practitioner. He had to leave Indre-et-Loire in a somewhat hasty manner to join the University of Limoges in 2021. A rare change for second cycle students. The reason was judicial.
Suspected of rape and sexual assault, the student was placed in pre-trial detention before being released but under judicial supervision with a strict measure: ban on appearing in Indre-et-Loire. While awaiting his judgment, he could resume his studies, but not in Tours. In Limoges, where he was “exfiltrated” according to a person close to the case, the student’s past was initially hidden. But his recent convictions have created real unease in the ranks of the medical school.
“No, I didn’t know anything, but I assume”
Even before his arrival in Limoges, the case of Nicolas W. had already been the subject of student mobilizations asking the University of Tours to react by prohibiting him from accessing the campus. “The victims who reported rape and sexual assault were also medical students. So, they found themselves on the same benches as him,” recalls Me Eric Morin, who defends the two victims who filed a civil suit. Accepted at the University of Limoges, Nicolas W. had reverted to the 4th year of medicine, taking the time to catch up on his delay linked to his incarceration.
Apart from the dean at the time, no one was aware of the complaints against him, not even the president of the university. “No, I didn’t know anything, but I assume. I regret that we were not able to discuss it. Medical schools are a bit different,” says Isabelle Kloch-Fontanille.
The president of the University of Limoges, however, rejects all criticism aimed at her establishment, which some accuse of laxity. “We have not turned a blind eye and there is no silence. We worked hand in hand with the University Hospital to take all the necessary protective measures. For me, it is zero tolerance but respecting the law and the presumption of innocence,” assures Isabelle Kloch-Fontanille.
Why didn’t she exclude Nicolas W.?
“ The question must be asked of the courts since they authorized this student to continue his studies. I can’t do anything. You just have to look at what happened with the CHU”
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The hospital where the student was doing an internship in the oncology department decided to exclude the young practitioner, considering that he could not practice given his recent five-year suspended prison sentences and four months. suspended.
The student, advised by tenor Alain Jakubowicz, appealed to the administrative court and obtained his reinstatement. Pattern ? “It has not been established that the applicant was the cause of disturbances or incidents during his various internships within the health establishment, having been or been the subject of disciplinary proceedings by the ‘university authority’, according to the deliberations 20 minutes was able to consult. If the CHU had decided to exclude the accused, it was because of his recent five-year suspended prison sentence for sexual assault and rape against college classmates.
Already sentenced a few months earlier
Found guilty, the student admitted to the attacks for the second time, after a first conviction handed down in 2023 for acts committed when he was a minor. A repeat offender, he had escaped the criminal court, the young woman having filed a complaint for rape having agreed to “correctionalize” his case. A method which makes it possible to obtain a hearing before a criminal court, in particular to avoid a longer judgment delay.
Nicolas W. was notably found guilty of having penetrated a young woman who was sleeping during a student evening organized at the victim’s home in Tours. “We are talking about someone who abused young women without their consent. There is everything: the multiplicity of victims, the repetition over time and the crescendo of danger. For my clients, it is inconceivable that he could become a doctor,” denounces Me Marc Morin.
The latter is particularly surprised that the accused was able to complete an internship in gynecology, even though several complaints denouncing non-consensual sexual acts had been filed. “It’s like letting a pedophile work in a childcare center,” says the lawyer, who insists on the “dangerousness” of the accused.
The psychologist who examined Nicolas W. as part of the investigation was more measured. He “did not note any psychopathic tendencies or personality disorders” and considered that “the accused had carried out introspective work since the events”, in particular by initiating a treatment protocol.
A disciplinary commission, but when?
At the end of the month, Nicolas W. should take his exams like all his classmates. If he obtained his diploma, he could apply for an internship but necessarily at a university other than that of Limoges. Will they accept him now that his case has been publicized? Impossible to know. In the meantime, the University of Limoges says it is “ready to refer the matter to the disciplinary commission” of the establishment. To do this, she must wait to receive the judgment rendered on March 19 and the suspended sentence of five years in prison.
“We have to respect the rules. We asked, telephoned, sent letters to obtain the decision. We are still waiting,” assures the president of the university. This commission could then decide to exclude the student, or even prohibit him from accessing any university. Questioning his hopes of becoming a radiologist, like his father.
