The mayor of Nazelles-Négron (Indre-et-Loire) has been indicted and remanded in custody for rape and sexual assault on minors, we learned on Tuesday from the public prosecutor of Tours.
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Richard Chatellier, mayor of this town of around 3,500 inhabitants near Amboise, “was indicted on charges of rape of a minor by a person having authority“, specified to AFP Grégoire Dulin.
“We interviewed a number of people who had been placed in foster care at the Chatellier couple’s home, who revealed that they had been victims of acts when they were between 14 and 17 years old, between 2013 and 2021 »
Grégoire Dulin, public prosecutor of Tours.
The chosen one, who with his wife hosted minors as a foster family, is also indicted for “sexual assault on a minor under the age of fifteen, sexual assault on a minor over the age of fifteen by a person in authority, corruption of a minor under the age of fifteen and over fifteen, and willful violence against a vulnerable personadded the prosecutor.
Disputed facts in police custody
During his police custody, which began on April 6, Richard Chatellier “disputed all the facts with which he was charged“, according to the magistrate who recalls the principle of the presumption of innocence. The elected official was presented to the prosecution on Friday and remanded in custody.in accordance with our requestsadded the prosecutor.
“My client does not acknowledge any of the charges against him“, declared his lawyer, Me Bertrand Ritouret, who regrets that we “casts reproach on a person who up to now has been exemplary“.
Report leading to investigation
A judicial investigation was opened and the investigation was entrusted to the research brigade of the gendarmerie of Tours.
The investigation was launched following a report from the Indre-et-Loire departmental council, informed by “a minor placed that she had been the victim of acts of a sexual naturefrom the mayor, according to the magistrate.
“We interviewed a number of people who had been placed in foster care at the home of the Chatellier spouses who revealed that they had been victims of acts when they were between 14 and 17 years old, between 2013 and 2021added Grégoire Dulin.
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The mayor’s wife, a childminder, was heard as a witness in the proceedings, but was not placed in police custody. All the underage girls who have been placed in the couple’s home will be heard by the investigating judge, according to the prosecutor.