Illicit sex and deviant practices were discussed at length in court. The case referred to before the criminal court concerned virtual relationships, mainly during telephone conversations, where a 35-year-old man living a difficult separation took advantage of a 14-year-old girl living in a foster family in the Var. How could the defendant lead a child on the path of debauchery and guilt at the age of puberty?
The answer came from the interesting approach taken by President Jérôme Fougeras Lavergnolle during the investigation. The work of the investigators dates back to 2020, when they unmask the author of the transgressions: a local child. The two “partners” had approached on “F3”.
A strange acronym that hides a social platform dedicated to teens but pointed to as a place of seduction. Worse, predation. The duo then migrated to the Snapchat application to defy sexual taboos.
Not the only victim
“- You weren’t aware of crossing a prohibited border? reacted the magistrate.
– At the beginning, I behaved like a big brother, estimated the defendant. It was in November 2019. Then, I put her in confidence. Our relationship, always virtual, had become more intimate from the exchange of photos and our first sweet words. We masturbated together on the phone… Then it was with videos…
– And after?
– I let myself go (silence). I was not in love. But I was going through a terrible time! I was disturbed by the piling up of problems…
– Why these false remarks, you however had other relations at the same time? You have crossed the threshold of criminal misconduct!
– A difficult divorce… I wasn’t aware of my actions. I hadn’t even paid attention to the age.
– Consumer of dating sites, married, separated and father of a 9-year-old boy. What else could attract you to his porn portals? You had sex with other underage girls…
– Yes! Several! But it was still superficial. As with the victim. I have always refused to see her in person.”
An involuntary witness is described in this case: the laptop. Besides seven racy images, there are 113,000 web views housed in the phone’s memory. Is it to induce primary impulses, worried the prosecution, who labeled the defendant of personality “more than borderline, with an impression of strangeness”.
A risk of recurrence
The 30-year-old was in fact again in a relationship when he began research on child pornography sites, including surveys on those with incestuous characters. While he takes refuge behind his separation, the expert report has a completely different vision. “This man suffers from a very strong psychic immaturity, a narcissistic deficiency, a lack of confidence, but no behavioral disorder. Her search for a minor is due to immaturity with a risk of recurrence. Medical care should be preferred…”
The civil party, through Me Sarah Filippi, refrains from “shoot an ambulance”. “However, we must understand the consequences of such behavior on this young girl abandoned by her father and placed in a foster family. This adult took advantage of his fragility. She assumes, but she is ashamed. How to fix? No question of revenge: just understanding! 10,000 euros for arbitrary damage.”
What a wise choice, wonders the first substitute Valérie Sagné. “Would a quantum be sufficient to understand the penal sanction? Is it a predator who should go to jail? A pervert? No! I just want to appreciate, in truth, if he represents a danger. I request a sentence of eighteen months accompanied by a suspended sentence and its placement under the regime of freedom of probation and the obligation of care. Because his attitude gives hope.
The court followed the requisitions of the public prosecutor and ordered the payment of 5,000 euros to compensate the civil party.
“The synthesis of his life: a total failure”
To defend the defendant, Me Julien Darras, of the Nice Bar, evokes a “chaotic period where (s)one client finds himself imprisoned with his fragility”. It describes a young girl “whose first wish was to be loved” and a defendant from “of a disastrous youth and schooling, harassed, coupled with an immaturity prone to accidents which brought him before this court”.
These setbacks, amplified by a divorce, constitute “the synthesis of his life: a total failure”. So his salvation prospers in people “With which he is able to communicate. But here it is: she is 14 years old. It is frightening, because she does not have enough mechanism to protect herself. Provide an infractional response understood! Adapted!”
