NEW DELHI, May 25: A massive child abuse scandal in France, reportedly involving children as young as three-years old, at several state nursery and primary schools has shocked the country and the world raising questions on child safety in the country.
‘Monitors’ at these schools are under investigation for rape, sexual assault and violence, The media reported as the police are probing nearly a hundred allegations of mistreatment, physical violence and rape of children.
Prosecutors have confirmed that the alleged abuses reportedly happened during lunch breaks, nap times and after-school activities. “We have investigations under way in 84 preschools, about 20 primary schools and about 10 daycare centres,” Paris’s top prosecutor, Laure Beccuau was quoted as saying. Five people have been summoned to court, Beccuau added.
Emmanuel Gregoire, Paris mayor, who said he himself had suffered sexual abuse during an after-school swimming programme when he was in primary, has announced dozens of suspensions and pledged to stamp out such violence.
In French schools, monitors are adults recruited by local authorities at state schools to look after the children during breaktime, naps and activities after school. The Guardian report added that the monitors often do not hold any professional qualification and are hired ‘increasingly’ on a casual basis and are sometimes paid by hour.
Following the massive expose, mayor Gregoire has vowed better vetting of monitor applications, and improved training for recruits, including on how to report suspected mistreatment. The monitors have reportedly been accused of screaming at, pushing, pulling the children’s hair, denying them food, forcing them to a point of throwing up and sexually abusing or raping them.
One of the accused, the media said, included a 47-year-old school monitor accused of sexual assault on three girls and sexual harassment of nine others when they were aged 10 in 2024. Prosecutors have called for the man, who was suspended in 2024, to be handed a 18-month suspended sentence, as well as being banned from working with children.
Another three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a school monitor at a school in the west of Paris, The media reported, adding that another three-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by the same monitor after he was moved to a different school following complaints of being physically violent towards children. The two cases are being represented by lawyer Louis Cailliez, who filed police complaints in February.
The aggrieved parents have formed collective called #MeTooEcoles. Co-founder Barka Zerouali alleges the complaints of child sexual abuse have long been ignored by city officials. “I fear it’s only the beginning, because I know of many families who are yet to hear back from the authorities. We’re not just angry – we’re outraged. It feels like we’ve been talking to the wind,” Zerouali said.
“French society is opening its eyes to the fact that school is not the sanctuary we had thought. When you drop a child at school in the morning, that child is absolutely not protected against administrative dysfunction and paedophile behaviour. Children are being confronted with all forms of violence: from verbal and physical violence to sexual assault. It’s horrifying and it is creating fear. Parents are outraged,” a spokesperson of the collective said.
(Manas Dasgupta)