He was to be tried for aggravated sexual harassment, the youngest son of hairdresser Jacques Dessange died

The information of his disappearance, transmitted to AFP by a source close to the matter, was confirmed Thursday by the Dessange International group.

“The death occurred the day before yesterday, on November 5,” said the group, which made it clear that Benjamin Dessange “had left the company in 2018 and was no longer part of it, either as a shareholder or as an employee.” .

Dessange International made no further comment.

A former employee of the Dessange group, Annabel Talon, filed a complaint against the heir to the hairdresser to the stars, in 2014, then in 2015. She accused him of malicious telephone calls, intentional violence and sexual harassment, saying that from in 2011, the man who became president of Dessange International had adopted “an inappropriate attitude” towards him.

And this for two years, until she left the group as part of a conventional breakup.

Benjamin Dessange was indicted in October 2022. On April 8, an investigating judge ordered a trial before the criminal court, based in particular on around fifty SMS messages sent to him by Mr. Dessange, sometimes to sexual nature, and testimonies from personal and professional entourage reporting inappropriate behavior towards her.

“We dispute the facts. This person has been pursuing Benjamin Dessange with his hatred for fifteen years,” his lawyer, Mr. Richard Koplewicz, declared in April, contacted by AFP.

The judge retained the aggravating circumstance of abuse of authority, due to the hierarchical relationship and the right of oversight that Mr. Dessange had over the complainant's work.

Summoned in 2018, Benjamin Dessange denied the facts and claimed that he had a consensual sexual relationship with the complainant, which the latter disputes.

“She had a lot of contact with my father and my father created a vendetta,” Benjamin Dessange, who had notoriously difficult relations with his father since 2008, declared during his interrogation in 2022.

An unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, according to the conclusions of the investigating magistrate.