“I have never touched this child whom I have seen three times in my life. I am shocked, ”launches the father accused of sexual touching of a 10-year-old girl. The facts date back to 2004 and would have taken place in Buding with friends of friends. “One day, I found myself alone with him. I was watching television. He sat to my left on the sofa, put his hand on my throat, hugging me”. The little girl then became a young woman filed a complaint in 2022, seventeen years after the alleged facts. She says he then touched her breasts over and under the T-shirt, then her penis, before getting up and leaving “as if nothing had happened” when someone entered the room. She adds: “Another time, he came, I got up and went to join the others. »
The defendant, now 62, partially admitted the facts in 2022 – “I may have heckled her a bit. I wanted a child next to me […] I stroked her hair and upper body” – before retracting before the Thionville Criminal Court. A search carried out by the gendarmes at the home of the defendant brought to light somewhat disturbing elements: a photo representing his children in the company of the one who accuses him was exhibited in the living room, as well as a jumble of multiple shots views of young children. Photos of minors were also present in the drawer of “a bedside table”, according to the investigators. “These are photos taken as part of my professional activity”, continues the sexagenarian.
18 months probationary period required
“Eighteen years later, it’s amazing to remember with such precision what happened that day. Either it is trivial and we do not remember, or it is not and we remember it, ”says the president of the court, Philippe Rousseau.
Described as being a “manipulator” by the psychiatrist expert and by his eldest daughter, the defendant has the answer to everything. “Manipulator +++”, this is what the civil party will highlight, who evokes, about the alleged victim, “a trauma that impacted his life until the age of 27” . “We have a young woman who, seventeen years later, pushes the door of a police station and describes with precision forty seconds of her existence”, notes the public prosecutor, who requires a sentence of 18 months in prison accompanied by a probationary suspension of three years.
“If he was a perverse pedophile, we would have found something other than his daughter’s swimsuit at home! “, underlines master Thomas Hellebrand for the defense.
The decision has been reserved and will be rendered on April 26.
