Outreau affair: what becomes of Myriam Badaoui?

Myriam Badaoui is one of the main protagonists in the Outreau affair. In December 2000, the four children of this woman and her husband, Thierry Delay, accused them of sexual violence. From their host family, all described acts of rape committed by their parents, who lived in Outreau, in Pas-de-Calais. Arrested, Myriam Badaoui had denounced six suspects, convicted of touching and raping children, before retracting in the face of justice. After a river investigation, led in particular by judge Fabrice Burgaud, seventeen people appeared before the Assize Court of Saint-Omer in May 2004. Among them, seven were acquitted, ten were convicted and twelve children were recognized as victims. In 2005, six adults appealed and were acquitted. Four were convicted.

This is particularly the case of Myriam Badaoui, sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape, sexual assault, pimping and corruption of minors. In 2011, she left the women’s prison in Rennes where she was imprisoned for 10 years to join a reception center in the same city. “This case, I think about it every day, she confided at the bar of the assize court for minors. But I was able to rebuild myself. I am someone different. Judge Burgaud had become a friend. He put me on a pedestal as soon as he was satisfied with my testimony. Otherwise, he would bang his fist on the table. For the first time in my life, I was given importance.” Released from prison, Myrian Badaoui was sentenced again in 2019. This time, she was sentenced to eight months in prison for “theft” and “falsification of checks”.

Myriam Badaoui: “My name is an obstacle”

According to Ouest-France, the incestuous mother had explained “lose the pedals” since a year : “I can’t find my place in the outside world. My name is an obstacle. Prison was my home. I took my first steps there: training, a job”. Sentenced to a 10-year socio-judicial follow-up, Myriam Badaoui missed several appointments at the prison integration and probation service. “I can’t find my place in the outside world, my name is an obstacle. I still hope to get out of it, but sometimes I think prison is my home”, she told the court. His lawyer then spoke: “Her name affects all the efforts she makes to integrate. She is therefore extremely isolated. She has also started a procedure to change her name”. Since then, Myriam Badaoui has been extremely discreet.