Key facts
- Former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo stated that institutional failures allowed a wave of child abuse at state nurseries and primary schools.
- Police are examining more than 200 allegations of mistreatment, violence, and sexual abuse of young children.
- Hidalgo testified before a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
- A Paris court sentenced a former after-school activity supervisor to five years in prison with four years suspended for sexually assaulting nine girls aged six to 10.
- Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has opened investigations into Hidalgo and current mayor Emmanuel Gregoire over alleged failures to assist a person in danger of abuse.
Former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo stated on Tuesday that a "collective failure" at institutions allowed a wave of child abuse at state nurseries and primary schools in the French capital to occur over more than a decade. Police are currently examining over 200 allegations of mistreatment, violence, and sexual abuse of young children during lunch breaks, rest periods, and after-school activities.
Hidalgo told a Senate hearing that the number of victims was unacceptable and that she understood the sense of abandonment amongst families. "If we are standing before you here today, it is because our institutions... have failed to protect our children. And this is a collective failure," she told senators.
The first allegations of abuse surfaced in 2014. A year later, the Paris General Inspectorate published a report warning of the risk of such offenses being committed by city employees against minors. Parents' groups have stated that their concerns about abuse were ignored by City Hall for years. Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau informed France Inter radio last week that she has opened investigations into Hidalgo and current mayor Emmanuel Gregoire over their alleged failures to assist a person in danger of abuse.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Paris court sentenced a former after-school activity supervisor to five years in prison with four years suspended. The offender admitted to sexually assaulting nine girls aged six to 10 at a Paris elementary school. Senator Agnes Evren, who led the Senate's hearing, highlighted shortcomings in City Hall's actions detailed in the Inspectorate's report, including a four-year pause in systematic reporting of complaints, and stated that the Inspectorate's recommendations had only been partially implemented. Parents' collective SOS Periscolaire expressed disappointment at Hidalgo's answers, stating they failed to deliver facts and always pointed to the failures of others. Barka Zerouali, cofounder of a second parents' group, #MeTooEcole, told Reuters that children are supposed to be safe when dropped off at school, especially within a public service.