Sexual violence against minors: the French government is examining the shortcomings of investigations

"Ghost" cases, abandoned or lost investigations, lack of staff... The Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, has sent his counterpart at the Interior a note detailing major shortcomings in the handling of sexual violence against children.

In the 12-page letter dated July 29, revealed Saturday by the daily newspaper Le Monde and consulted by AFP, the Minister of Justice summarizes for Laurent Nuñez the information gathered by the public prosecutors' offices on these disputes which have become the priority of his ministry since the wave of indignation caused by the Lyhanna affair.

This reveals a litany of "structural" dysfunctions, writes Mr. Darmanin, which relate to the issue of resources, training, tools and management, but not "to the will of field staff".

The main failing discovered by prosecutors who visited police stations and gendarmeries after the Lyhanna case exploded was the existence of a gigantic "phantom stockpile" of files not listed by the justice system because they had not been transmitted to it, according to the document.

The stock reveals the gap between the number of cases known to prosecutors and those held by investigative services.

- "Purely and simply lost" -

In Nîmes, for example, prosecutors discovered 1,275 "phantom" proceedings, 905 in Caen, while in Agen, "a significant number of ongoing proceedings" did not "result in any information from the prosecutor's office".

In Melun, "numerous procedures (were) left without investigation for months, even years, even when the perpetrator was often identified or easily identifiable."

These "discrepancies between data extracted by the judicial courts and the reality of the services are systematic," the minister noted.

Elsewhere, in Bourges for example, about fifteen cases were "simply lost," the document continues. There were 17 in Angers, six in Annecy, and 23 "unlocated" in Paris...

In view of the identified shortcomings, Gérald Darmanin suggests to the Minister of the Interior a meeting on September 3 "in order to discuss these reports (...) and to engage in a constructive dialogue with all services".

The projects highlighted by the public prosecutors' offices are numerous.

The lack of staff is the most glaring issue, with "sometimes extreme understaffing" for a theoretically priority issue: "five OPJ (judicial police officers) and one APJ (judicial police agent) in the family protection group in Le Mans for more than 4,000 procedures".

Another issue that can have serious consequences on the handling of certain cases is the training of investigators.

In Bordeaux, a reservist was interviewing children under 10 years old by telephone, while in Besançon, there are reports of "the persistence of poorly conducted interviews of minor victims, with closed questions or inappropriate observations".

- "Insufficient professional investment" -

The lack of interest from certain police stations or gendarmeries, where the "hierarchy (clearly) prioritized local priorities, particularly those of public order", was also highlighted.

In Limoges, the public prosecutor's office noted "insufficient professional investment, including in specialized units", according to the letter.

When contacted by AFP, the Minister of the Interior indicated through his entourage that he "regrets the premature leak of this document, which is a working document currently being reviewed by his services, who are working to develop solutions with rigor and pragmatism."

Ludovic Friat, president of the main magistrates' union (USM), sees in the letter the confirmation of "the findings" highlighted by the USM, in particular "regarding resources, especially investigative services".

However, he told AFP, "it seems pointless to pass the buck, difficulties which are quite similar between the Ministries of Justice and the Interior, which suffer from being under-resourced to deal with this litigation which has become mass or has been discovered to be mass".

Jérôme Barella, the main suspect in the case of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old schoolgirl found dead on June 4 in Gers, has been charged with murder and rape of a minor under 15 years of age.

After the shockwave caused by this case, Gérald Darmanin revealed the existence of 85,047 complaints currently being processed for sexual violence against minors.