Two former educational assistants (AED) employed in colleges at the Nancy-Metz academy were indicted for rape and sexual assault on minors aged 15, with the aggravating circumstance that these acts were committed by adults with an age difference of five years. Their indictment dates back to October 25, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Tuesday January 23. In parallel with the criminal proceedings, the lawyer of one of the schoolgirls filed an action against national education.
The facts date back to April 2021 and concern, at this stage of the investigation, two students aged 14 at the time, attending Jules-Ferry college, in Woippy (Moselle). “Their 33-year-old supervisor came into contact with them, [par] social networks, before inviting them to his apartment, where truth-action type games took place which ended up leading to non-consensual sexual relations, since the law says that at this age, when there is a age difference of five years, there is no longer consent »explained Me Xavier Iochum, lawyer for one of the minors.
During these evenings, they were sometimes joined by another supervisor, employed in another establishment, aged 22 at the time, also indicted for the same counts by the Metz public prosecutor’s office after a complaint filed in November 2021 by the mother of the student. The two men “are subject to judicial control which prohibits them from having activities linked to minors which could lead to a similar situation”added Me Iochum. But “despite his judicial supervision, the youngest is still a sports instructor” in a Metz football club, where he is youth technical manager, as explained on the website of the French Football Federation.
“Malfunctions” reported within the college
In parallel with the criminal proceedings, Me Iochum took action against national education, expressing outrage at the “dysfunctions” demonstrated by the Jules-Ferry college and the rectorate of the Nancy-Metz academy, who would have taken the matter ” lightly “by not filing a complaint.
“At the college, everyone knew that he had ambiguous relationships with the students, no one alerted him to his behavior and the national education system, once informed, did not file a complaint against his agent for his behavior criminally reprehensible! It is unacceptable, when parents entrust their children, that they are victims of sexual acts by supervisors”added the lawyer.
The Nancy-Metz academy, for its part, ensures that “the head of the establishment made a report to the prosecutor through article 40 immediately after the information shared by the family in June 2021, before terminating the AED contract, also in June 2021”. However, he was able to be recruited in September 2021 by another academy establishment. Although he is no longer a supervisor today, the thirty-year-old’s profile still appears in the database of AEDs recruitable by national education.
The rectorate ensures that “the application platform, called Siaten, is not a certification basis: it in no way commits the institution to recruitment. Before hiring a candidate, a criminal record extract is requested. If there is a conviction, there is no hiring. However, it is not possible to delete an application from Siaten ».