The judicial investigation opened following accusations of sexual violence against Patrick Poivre d’Arvor (PPDA) was extended to two rapes and a sexual assault denounced by three women, while the complaints or testimonies of nineteen other women were been classified, declared Wednesday February 28 the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, requested by Agence France-Presse.
“Three other facts denounced were the subject of an additional referral on February 27, 2024 to the two investigating judges already seized of the facts concerning Mme Florence Porcel, so that the scope of their investigations is extended to these facts”two rapes and a sexual assault alleged committed between 2007 and 2018, said the public prosecutor, confirming a source close to the case.
The facts classified were either because their nature predates the creation of the offense (for reports of sexual harassment), or because the facts are prescribed, according to the prosecution. “After having carried out several free hearings of the person accused and a confrontation, and following a careful study of each of the facts, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office closed without further action the facts appearing as prescribed”detailed this source.
Twenty-two women had been interviewed or had described the facts denounced, and ten of them had filed a complaint as part of the preliminary investigation opened in December 2021.
The judicial investigation extended to the three non-prescribed facts was opened at the end of 2021 after a complaint with the creation of a civil party from the author Florence Porcel.
Mr. Poivre d’Arvor was indicted on December 19, 2023 for one of the two rapes she denounces, dating from 2009. She also accuses the journalist of having raped her for the first time in 2004, for which he was placed under the status of assisted witness because he is “prescribed”explained the prosecution in December.
The instruction concerns only the three non-prescribed facts
“As for the procedures of the first preliminary investigation, the reports concerning these facts will be transmitted for information purposes to be attached to the current judicial information file”specified the prosecution, although the investigation only concerns the three non-prescribed facts.
When contacted, the journalist’s lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, could not immediately be reached.
Mr. Poivre d’Arvor, who disputes the numerous accusations against him, had been questioned several times as part of this investigation by the brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person.
A first preliminary investigation opened after M’s complaintme Porcel had already been dismissed in June 2021 – mainly because the facts denounced were time-barred.