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'{{Short description|2004 French child sexual abuse trial}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Outreau Case | image = | caption = | location = [[Outreau]], [[Nord-Pas-de-Calais]], [[France]] | date = {{start date and age|df=yes|1984|10|16}} | coordinates = | time = | type = [[Child sexual abuse]], [[Child prostitution]], [[Child murder]] | weapon = | victims = 12 children | perpetrators = 17 accused, of whom 13 were acquitted }} The '''Outreau case''' was a 2004 criminal case in northern [[France]] on various counts of [[Child Sexual Abuse|sexual abuse against children]]. The case resulted in four final convictions, and the acquittal of thirteen of the seventeen accused, several of whom had been held in prison for several years. Twelve children were recognized at first instance as victims of rape, sexual assault, corruption of minors and pimping, some of whom are children of acquitted people. <ref name="lemonde.fr">{{cite web|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2015/05/19/comment-l-affaire-d-outreau-a-ebranle-la-justice-francaise_4636450_4355770.html |title=Comment l'affaire d'Outreau a ébranlé la justice française |website=Lemonde.fr |date=2015-05-19 |accessdate=2016-05-22}}</ref> In January 2006, a parliamentary inquiry was created, with President [[Jacques Chirac]] calling the affair a "judicial disaster", though Judge Burgaud, accused by the defense, was not sanctioned following the commission of inquiry. The theme of the case, the number of children recognized as victims, the unsolved murder of a young girl, as well as the number of adults indicted and often kept in pre-trial detention give this case a national dimension, arousing strong emotion in public opinion, and highlighting dysfunctions of the judicial institution, experts but also the media. The particularities of the trials and the multiple twists and turns that it experiences make the Outreau affair always a sensitive and controversial subject. The Outreau affair contributed to harm the consideration of the child's voice in France, with a 40% drop in convictions in the decade following the acquittal on appeal. <ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/09/14/en-dix-ans-le-nombre-de-personnes-condamnees-pour-viol-a-chute-de-40_5354839_1653578.html | title=En dix ans, le nombre de personnes condamnées pour viol a chuté de 40 % | newspaper=Le Monde.fr | date=14 September 2018 }}</ref> ==Outreau affair== The "Outreau affair", which concerned an alleged criminal network in [[Outreau]], a working class town next to [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]] in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] region, began in November 2001. The first trial took place in [[Saint-Omer]] in 2004, and the [[Court of Appeal|appeal]] took place in [[Paris]] in 2005. Seventeen people were prosecuted, but more than fifty people were investigated. Mostly parents, they were charged with child sexual abuse and [[incest]] and their children were separated from them for much of this time. The affair began when some school teachers and social workers noticed “strange sexual behavior” from four children of the Delay-Badaoui family. Psychologists believed the children to be credible witnesses, and later an administrative report showed that doctors found evidence of sexual abuse on 5 children. The parents were accused on the [[testimony]] of some of the children, which was then backed up by the [[confession (legal)|confession]]s of some of the accused. During his incarceration, Daniel Legrand, the youngest of the accused, declared having witnessed the murder of a little girl. He sent a letter to the judge and also to the newspaper France 3, giving the investigation a national dimension. The information was cross-referenced with other testimonies but the child's body was never found. The defendants were held in custody for from one to three years. In the first trial (in 2004), four of the eighteen admitted guilt and were convicted,<ref name=Fouche>{{cite news |last =Fouché |first =Alexandra |title =Outreau puts French justice in question |publisher =BBC News Online |date=2004-06-02 |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3852673.stm |accessdate =2008-05-29 |quote=One of France's highest-profile sex abuse case in years has ended with guilty verdicts against 10 people, but with accusations of an even wider pedophile ring not proved.}}</ref> while seven denied involvement and were acquitted. Six further defendants denied the charges but were convicted and given light sentences{{Clarify|date=October 2013}} – they appealed their convictions, and were heard by the Paris ''[[Cour d'assises]]'' in autumn 2005. On the first day of the hearing, the prosecution's claims were destroyed, and all six were acquitted.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4490088.stm | work=BBC News | title=Six cleared over French child sex | date=December 1, 2005 | accessdate=May 20, 2010}}</ref> Another defendant died in prison while awaiting trial.<ref name="lemonde.fr"/> ==Judicial process== ===First trial=== The trial took place before [[Saint-Omer]]'s ''[[Cour d'assises]]'', composed of three professional judges and nine jurors. The case involved an alleged ring of 17 persons, with the charges based on one woman's evidence and some corroborating statements from alleged victims. The alleged offenders were condemned on the grounds of certain adults' and, most of all, the children's testimony, together with psychiatric evidence. The children's testimony took place in "huis clos" (behind closed doors); such a procedure is normal in France for victims of sexual abuse, especially minors. The six convicted persons who denied any responsibility appealed their convictions. The woman who had given much of the evidence later confessed in court she had lied, and the children's revelations were found to be unreliable. Only four of the accused ever confessed, all the others insisted on their innocence: one died in jail during the investigation,<ref name="lemonde.fr"/> 7 others were acquitted during the first trial in May 2004, the last 6 during the second trial on the evening of 1 December 2005. ===Second trial=== The appeal took place before Paris' Cour d'assises, composed of three professional judges and twelve jurors, used as an appellate court for review of both facts and law. On its first day, the prosecution's claims were dismissed, owing to the statement of the main prosecution witness, Myriam Badaoui, who had declared on 18 November that the six convicted persons "had not done anything" and that she had herself lied. Thierry Delay, her former husband, backed up her statement. During the trial, the [[psychology|psychological]] evidence was also called into question, as it appeared biased and lacking in weight. The denials of two children, who admitted that they had formerly lied, also contributed to the destruction of the prosecution's claims. One of the psychologists said on TV: "I am paid the same as a cleaning lady, so I provide a cleaning lady's expertise," which caused further public indignation. At the end of the trial, the prosecutor (''avocat général'') asked for the acquittal of all of the accused persons. The defence renounced its right to plead, preferring to observe a minute of silence in favor of François Mourmand, who had died in prison during [[Detention of suspects|remand]]. [[Yves Bot]], general prosecutor of Paris, came to the trial on its last day, without previously notifying the president of the [[Cour d'assises]], Mrs. Mondineu-Hederer; while there, Bot presented his apologies to the defendants on behalf of the legal system&mdash;he did this before the verdict was delivered, taking for granted a "not guilty" ruling, for which some magistrates reproached him afterwards. All six defendants were finally acquitted on 1 December 2005, putting an end to five years of trials, which have been described by the French media as a "judicial foundering" or even as a "judicial [[Chernobyl]]". ===Remaining sentences=== Four people remained convicted after the appeal trial: Myriam Badaoui (who had not appealed her conviction), her husband, and a couple of neighbours. Myriam Badaoui, her husband, and one of the neighbours confessed that they had wrongfully accused other people to have been involved in the abuse cases, whereas only the four of them had been involved.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/20051121.OBS5942/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718215836/http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/20051121.OBS5942/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-18 |title=L'audience du vendredi 18 novembre - 21 novembre 2005 - L'Obs |website=Tempsreel.nouvelobs.com |date=2005-11-21 |accessdate=2016-05-22 }}</ref> Myriam Badaoui was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison, her husband to 20 years. Myriam Badoui was freed in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/affaire-outreau/myriam-badaoui-des-projecteurs-d-outreau-a-l-anonymat-en-bretagne_902385.html|title=Myriam Badaoui, des "projecteurs" d'Outreau à l'anonymat en Bretagne|date=2015-05-27|website=Franceinfo|language=fr|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref> ==Aftermath== ===Questioning on French justice and media involvement=== The affair caused public indignation and questions about the general workings of justice in France. The role of an inexperienced [[juge d'instruction|magistrate]], Fabrice Burgaud,<ref>"[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article700777.ece Paedophile case that could bring down the Napoleonic system]", Adam Sage, ''[[The Times]]'', 2006-04-04</ref> fresh out of the ''[[Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature]]'' was underscored, as well as the undue weight given to children's words and to [[psychiatry|psychiatric]] expertise, both of which were revealed to have been wrong. The [[Mass media|media's]] relation of the events was also questioned; although they were quick to point out the judicial error, they also had previously endorsed the "Outreau affair". ===Parliamentary inquiry=== After the second trial, the Prime Minister [[Dominique de Villepin]], the minister of justice [[Pascal Clément]] and President Chirac himself officially apologised to the victims in the name of the government and of the judicial institutions. In January 2006, there was a special parliamentary enquiry (for the first time broadcast live on television) about this ''catastrophe judiciaire'' (judicial disaster), which had been called by President [[Chirac]] in order to help prevent a recurrence of this situation through alterations in France's legal system. The role of experts (who had drawn hasty conclusions from children's testimony) and child protection advocates, lack of legal representation, the responsibility of the judges (the prosecution's case depended in this instance on a single [[investigative magistrate]]) and the role of the [[mass media]] were examined. The acquitted persons' hearing by the parliamentary enquiry caused a surge of emotion through the whole country. The affair was designated a "judiciary shipwreck". ===Fabrice Burgaud=== On 24 April 2009 the Conseil supérieur de la magistrature sentenced Burgaud to a reprimand (''réprimande avec inscription au dossier''), the lowest disciplinary penalty in the French judiciary system. Since then the case was "dropped". ==Subsequent convictions== On February 23, 2012, the criminal court of Boulogne-sur-Mer sentenced Franck and Sandrine Lavier, two acquitted from Outreau, to ten and eight months in prison respectively, suspended for habitual violence (not of a sexual nature) against two of their children. On November 2023 Franck Lavier was sentenced to six months in prison for sexual assault on his daughter <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.liberation.fr/societe/police-justice/franck-lavier-acquitte-doutreau-condamne-a-six-mois-de-prison-avec-sursis-pour-agressions-sexuelles-sur-sa-fille-20231107_DD2XGJAV5BDDDHO3ZZENZ4UDVM/ | title=Franck Lavier, acquitté d'Outreau, condamné à six mois de prison avec sursis pour agressions sexuelles sur sa fille }}</ref> ==Film and medias== In 2011 a film, ''[[Guilty (2011 film)|Présumé coupable]]'' (English title: ''Presumed Guilty'') was released, a drama documentary about the case from the viewpoint of Alain Marecaux, one of the acquitted defendants (even though accused of sex offense by his son François-Xavier Marécaux), based on his memoirs. In 2012 another film [[Outreau, the other truth|''Outreau, l'autre vérité'']] (English title: ''Outreau, the other truth'') was released. It is a documentary about the case from the viewpoint of some of the children, the experts and the magistrates. It paints a picture of how the press was manipulated by the defence lawyers, and how the words of the children were stifled. In 2023, a mixed fiction-documental TV series is released on the French public channel France 2. In 2024, Netflix releases a new documentary TV series.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vogue.com/article/everything-coming-to-netflix-in-march-2024 | title=Here's Everything Coming to Netflix in March 2024 | date=21 February 2024 }}</ref> ==Victim Children's viewpoint== During the release in 2023 of a television series on France 2, one of the victims, a child of the main family of the case, Jonathan Delay, called for a boycott of the France 2 TV series, which according to him, constitutes "media manipulation", by presenting "adults as being the first victims of this affair”. The series does not show that certain children, including Jonathan Delay, remain convinced that some of the acquitted were in fact guilty.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.marianne.net/societe/police-et-justice/appel-au-boycott-de-la-serie-outreau-une-affaire-sensible-et-des-memoires-difficiles-a-concilier | title=Appel au boycott de la série "Outreau" : Une affaire sensible et des mémoires difficiles à concilier | date=24 January 2023 }}</ref> The behavior during the hearing of [[Éric Dupond-Moretti]], lawyer for the Outreau acquitted, and later French Justice minister, is also called into question. According to a rumor that reappeared during the France 2 series, he terrorized a 7-year-old girl who, out of fear, urinated on her. Éric Maurel, at the time prosecutor of Saint-Omer, says in front of the General Inspectorate of Judicial Services that he believes that during the trial the victims “were mishandled”, that “the children were harassed questions by the various defense lawyers. There was tension and very strong verbal violence, organized and part of a defense strategy, including between defense lawyers, despite the president's attempts to restore calm. He mentions “the case of a child of around ten years old who was heard for several hours in the civil parties’ box”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/proces-doutreau-est-il-vrai-queric-dupond-moretti-a-terrorise-une-petite-fille-au-point-quelle-a-fini-par-suriner-dessus-20230208_KJJRDSZE2JAU3HDYRQQFTJELHI | title=Procès d'Outreau : Est-il vrai qu'Eric Dupond-Moretti a «terrorisé» une petite fille au point qu'elle a fini par «s'uriner dessus» ? }}</ref> ==See also== * [[McMartin preschool trial]], a [[California]]n case where several adults accused of sexual abuse remained on remand for years before charges were dropped. * [[Orkney child abuse scandal]], a [[Scotland|Scottish]] child abuse prosecution that collapsed on its first day of trial. * [[Outreau, the other truth]], a documentary about the Outreau case, from the viewpoint of some of the victim children. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070102222646/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/02/wpaed02.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/02/ixworld.html Collapse of child sex case shakes French courts] {{DEFAULTSORT:Outreau Trial}} [[Category:Political scandals in France]] [[Category:Sex scandals in France]] [[Category:Day care sexual abuse allegations]] [[Category:2004 in France]] [[Category:2004 in law]] [[Category:Trials in France]] [[Category:Wrongful convictions]] [[Category:Saint-Omer]] [[Category:Child sexual abuse in France]]'