Rare public trial opens in Paris child abuse case as parents seek national wake-up call

Описание: (27 May 2026)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4661437

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France - 26 May 2026
1.⁠ ⁠People queuing outside courtroom ahead of trial 
2.⁠ ⁠SOUNDBITE (French) Rebecca Royer, lawyer for families of victims:  ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT3++
"This trial is important, quite simply because it involves extremely serious acts of sexual assault on several children, nine in total, aged three to five years. So the children are particularly young, particularly vulnerable, and the acts are alleged to have been committed by their supervisor within the preschool. What the parents are expecting today is a response from the justice system, a response that matches the severity of the acts committed against the children. Moreover, what we are expecting is a real turning point in child protection, meaning we expect the government and municipalities to implement real measures to protect children, but also to provide real resources.”
3.⁠ ⁠Various of people entering courtroom, police outside courtroom 
4. Protester holding up sign with message from MeTooEcole supporter, reading (French) "Dear society, I no longer trust you. You leave our children to be preyed upon by monsters with complete impunity, and you expect us to remain silent."
5.⁠ ⁠SOUNDBITE (French) Barka Zerouali, Co-founder of “MeTooEcole”: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 6-7++
"We are here today to support the young victims, support the parents, and to say and show that this is coming from all over France and that it's enough. There needs to be a national wake-up call at some point. We need to put resources on the table, both financial and human."
6. Various of protesters
7.⁠ ⁠Zerouali speaking to media
STORYLINE:
Parents’ groups in France on Tuesday called for more attention to long-ignored child abuse scandals as a rare public trial opened of a school assistant accused of sexually assaulting nine small children in Paris.

The parents of the children agreed to open the proceedings, drawing inspiration from Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to make her harrowing drug and rape trial public.

In France, trials involving minors are usually held behind closed doors.

According to their lawyers, some parents said they were following the example of Pelicot and her motto that “shame must change sides” to abusers, not victims.

The Paris case emerged in April 2025 after several children told their parents they allegedly had been sexually abused at a nursery school.

The defendant, 36, who has not been publicly identified, is accused of assaulting children while supervising them in bathrooms, during lunch breaks and in after-school care between August 2024 and April 2025.

He has denied any sexual abuse against children.

The children were between 3 and 5 years old at the time.

They do not have to attend the trial. A judge has read their testimonies to investigators.

The defendant is also accused of sexually harassing two co-workers and sexually assaulting one of them.

He faces up to 10 years in prison.

His lawyer would not speak with The Associated Press before the trial.

The co-founder of parents' group MeTooEcole, or MeTooSchool, and other supporters gathered outside the courthouse to draw attention to the need for more attention to child abuse scandals.

"There needs to be a national wake-up call at some point," Barka Zerouali said.

Families said the trauma of the alleged assaults was compounded by what they described as a struggle to be taken seriously by authorities.










AP video by Nicolas Garriga



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