On the second day of the trial of François Vergniaud, tried at the Loire-Atlantique Assize Court, for the murder of Céleste, it is recidivism which is at the heart of the debates. Sentenced in 2005 to 18 years of criminal imprisonment for rape and attempted rape, he was released in 2014, following a reduced sentence. In 2020, he raped and killed Céleste in Nantes.
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On the second day of the trial of François Vergniaud, for the murder of Céleste, a 15-year-old girl in August 2020 in Nantes, the question of recidivism and judicial follow-up is at the heart of the debates.
The court is trying to understand how this 50-year-old man, already sentenced in 2005 to 18 years in prison for nine rapes and three attempted rapes, was able to do it again six years after his release from prison. He was released from prison in 2014 following a reduced sentence.
François Vergniaud, bearded, average height, an incipient bald spot on the back of his head, remains prostrate, his gaze downcast. He listens to his former prison integration and probation counselor, testify at the bar, talk about himself, a man “punctual, courteous, respectful, available for discussion and keen to control their environment”. “A person with low self-esteem, in general,” adds the advisor.
At the end of his release, he had respected its socio-judicial monitoring. LThe interviews took place every 15 days in 2016, then were spaced out, once per quarter in 2019.
Read also ► “He described himself as a predator”, on the first day of the trial of Céleste’s alleged murderer, the examination of the personality of the accused
Maître Pauline Loirat, lawyer for the “Innocence in Danger” association, civil party in this trial, paints the portrait of a manipulator.
“I note that Mr. Vergniaud has absolutely no reflection on these previous victims. He has no introspection and above all, I note that he is obviously very good at letting people believe that he has started work, when not at all. “He actually has a very smooth speech, he says what is expected of him, he strictly complies with the obligations incumbent upon him.”
“I think that Mr. Vergniaud is a great manipulator. We know that he is very organized, very meticulous, this is what emerges from his personality traits. We know that he is fully capable of warning when he is going to be late, to organize himself, to think about giving the best possible image of himself. These are traits that suggest someone is manipulative. adds the lawyer.
Questioned this Monday morning, the suspect, who grew up in Vienne, described “a happy childhood, without violence, without sexual abuse, in a Catholic family”, surrounded by three sisters, with a mason father and a stay-at-home mother.
He then details his student career, agricultural studies in Montmorillon then in Angoulême, “a festive student life with lots of friends”. Then the army, from October 97 to July 98, in La Rochelle.
“C“It's at this moment that my discomfort appears, following disappointments in love”, relates François Vergniaud who speaks of “statement of failure”. He describes himself as anxious, stressed at times, or the opposite “very happy, festive, nice with everyone, shy with girls”.
At the beginning of the afternoon, when the hearing resumed, his youngest sister was called to the stand. “I was expecting answers that I never got from him”she explains, in tears. “I feel hatred, betrayal, he’s a monster. Do what you need to do so that he never comes out again,” the accused's sister asks the court.
“I have nothing to say, I saw nothing”explains his mother. “He wrote to me, I replied a few words, but the damage was done. It took me a while to realize it, I didn’t want to believe it.”
Then it’s his partner’s turn to testify. Originally from Gabon, the woman in her fifties seems totally distraught. “We wanted to make a life together, we bought a house in 2018; we were happy, we cultivated our little garden.”
“When I learned what he had done, it felt like a tear in the depths of my soul, she explains. The day of the rape, he was the same, he hadn’t changed.”
He faces life imprisonment. The verdict is expected on Thursday.
With Olivier Caillé
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