“I made this gesture that I don’t understand”, a man accused of having grabbed the victim’s hips then showed his penis in the church

“I held her by the hips and made her sit on my lap.” This is the only point on which victim and defendant agree for this case which dates back to last January. On Wednesday October 2, this Marmandais was tried for assault and sexual exhibition, in the church of Marmande, where the two protagonists have their habits. “We know each other,” assures the 49-year-old man at the helm.

That day, after drinking “three beers”, he went to the holy place, where he met the victim. “I put down my candle, then I sat down on a bench. She joined me, we talked and I made this gesture that I don’t understand. I made her sit on the edge of the my knees”, continues the respondent. For her part, the victim, an elderly lady suffering from psychological disorders, said during her hearing that the latter would have taken her by the hips to sit her on her parts. Frightened, she escapes, and that’s when he allegedly showed his penis. When she left the church, the defendant allegedly followed her and asked her to come to his house.

Versions that diverge

“It’s totally false. On the one hand, I couldn’t show him my attributes, there’s no room while sitting to take off my sweatpants. Afterwards, when I went out, I didn’t pay attention to the surroundings, I went straight to my house,” says the man from the Territoire de Belfort. On the stand, the victim qualified his remarks, explaining that there had been nothing serious. “I was scared when he put me on his knees. I’m no longer sure I saw his genitals.”, she testifies.

Her brother, who is also her guardian, says: “My sister is impressed by the environment. After the events, she told me the same version as she told the police. When she was a teenager, her mother locked her up for preventing her from meeting boys, that’s when she developed her problems.” The defense lawyer, Me Verdier, slips: “He is indeed a vulnerable person, however the credibility of the victim necessarily raises questions.”

Ten months probationary suspension

He was convicted four times for acts of violence, alcohol, damage and in 2022 for aggravated theft. The almost fifty-year-old also has problems with alcohol. “I go through periods where my alcohol consumption becomes excessive,” he confides on the stand.

For the public prosecutor, these actions have “a sexual purpose” and require “12 months in prison, 8 of which are suspended on probation.” He will be acquitted for the exhibition but sentenced for the sexual assault to 10 months in prison with suspended probation as well as a ban on contact with the victim and the church.