The accusations continue to come. After two first bursts of revelations last July and September, nine new testimonies of sexual violence incriminating Abbé Pierre were revealed on Monday January 13 in a report by Egaé, an independent firm mandated by Emmaüs to investigate the man's actions. of Church. This report is revealed by “Special Envoy” which devotes its issue to the subject, Thursday January 16, at 9 p.m.
The nine new accusations of sexual violence, perpetrated between the 1960s and 2000s, mainly concern sexual assaults on women. But one of the testimonies mentions a rape of a minor boy at the time of the events. These stories, received by Egaé between September and December 2024, are in addition to the 24 published in the two previous reports on the subject.
Among the new testimonies published Monday is that of Danièle, 73 years old. Renamed “GG” in the report, she explains having suffered repeated sexual assaults from Abbé Pierre during a humanitarian mission to Bangladesh in December 1972, following a typhoon and a civil war. She mentions touching her breasts and “on intimate spaces”but also having been forcefully kissed and having been forced to witness a masturbation scene. Acts which were repeated for several days during this trip, according to his testimony.
Accusations against Abbé Pierre: Danièle's testimony
New accusations by Abbé Pierre were revealed by the Egae cabinet.
(SPECIAL SENDING / France 2)
“I was 21, Abbé Pierre, 60”she confides to “Special Envoy”. “Every evening, he asked me to join him in his suite to take stock of the day (…) He explained to me how alone he was and suffered from emotional deprivation. It was there that he had inappropriate gestures, touching on his part which could go quite far”, she reports modestly. The septuagenarian says she felt, during these attacks, “a sort of disgust and pity for the man.” When she crossed paths again in the 1990s, she reported having witnessed a scene of compulsory nudity and having witnessed contact on the thigh of the man of the Church on one of her friends.
“I did not consent, I was under a form of control.”
Danièle Moulinto “Special Envoy”
Among the eight other testimonies, the story of a “sex act with penetration” about an underage boy is mentioned. Although it has elements “allowing us to attest to the truth” From her comments, the victim did not want her story to be detailed in the report.
In this same document, the Egaé group reports having received a testimony from a member of Abbé Pierre's family, renamed “HH”. This person claims to have suffered, at the end of the 1990s, sexual comments from Abbé Pierre, but also “sexual contact on her breasts” and two attempted forced kisses. “This person asked me that neither their age nor the period appear, because these would have been elements that would have allowed us to recognize them”explains to “Special Envoy” Caroline De Haas, co-founder of the Egaé group.
The report highlights the vulnerability of a large proportion of victims at the time of the events. Many explain that they told those around them about the assaults or sexual harassment at the time without being believed. “It appears in these testimonies that Abbé Pierre had put in place mechanisms to silence the victims, in particular through threatening comments or behavior,” can still be read there.
These testimonies “absolutely do not allow us to draw up an exhaustive inventory of Abbé Pierre's behavior”, warn the authors of the report. Other testimonies, anonymous or incomplete, were received. The Egaé group thus heard several people who had heard from victims of Abbé Pierre and at least nine additional people were identified. “Some of these victims died today, others did not wish to testify or were able to be heard,” details the report. The Egaé group was also aware of the existence of at least one other victim among the members of the abbot's family, who could not be heard. “From testimony to testimony, the number of victims expands, the nature of the facts expands, the locations expand, the profile of the victims expands,” unfolds Caroline De Haas to “Special Envoy”, deploring “a degree of violence that is beyond comprehension.”
“We are firmly convinced that we have just part of the reality of what Abbé Pierre did.”
Caroline De Haas, co-founder of the Egaé groupto “Special Envoy”
During its investigation phase, the Egaé group systematically cross-checked the facts. “When we receive a testimony, we sometimes have elements attached which allow us to make the link with the life of Abbé Pierre”, explains Caroline De Haas. When this is not the case, the organization approaches Emmaüs, which will “look in the archives to see if there are elements that allow us to connect the testimony to the life of Abbé Pierre”she continues. These new testimonies bring to 33 the number of corroborated accusations against Abbé Pierre, long one of the favorite personalities of the French. In all, 57 people accusing the priest have come forward since the start of the affair, but 24 accusations could not be verified, recalls “Special Envoy”.
The collection of testimonies set up by Egaé continues until January 31 by email: [email protected] and by telephone: 01 89 96 01 53. The system will then give way to a structure “who will process the testimonies in the future”the organization said in its report. After the September revelation, Emmaüs also announced the establishment of an independent commission responsible for “to explain the dysfunctions” who allowed Abbé Pierre “to act as he has done for more than fifty years”, and the Conference of Bishops of France decided to make public the archives concerning him.
“We apologize to society, to the victims in relation to the seriousness of the acts committed by a man who was dear to us and in whom we trusted. We are the first to feel betrayed”reacted Adrian Chaboche, general delegate of Emmaus International, to “Special Envoy”. Concerning possible compensation for victims, he adds: “We are ready to consider it. We need to imagine a system and propose something adapted and serious. It takes a little time to build.”
Watch the exclusive Special Envoy investigation on Abbé Pierre in full Thursday at 9:10 p.m. on France 2, on franceinfo.fr and on france.tv.
