French Justice System Re-examines 88,000 Child Abuse Claims After 11-Year-Old Lyhanna's Murder
Updated
Updated · RFI English · Jun 30
French Justice System Re-examines 88,000 Child Abuse Claims After 11-Year-Old Lyhanna's Murder
2 articles · Updated · RFI English · Jun 30
Summary
88,000 complaints involving sexual violence against children are being re-examined by French investigative services, up from the 70,000 cases Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered reviewed last month.
Lyhanna's 4 June murder triggered the sweep after investigators were accused of mishandling earlier complaints against suspect Jérôme Barella, who had twice been formally accused of child rape but was never questioned in the latest case.
7,452 of the files concern crimes in which the alleged perpetrator is known, while Darmanin said the justice system has shown less progress on child abuse than on violence against women.
Darmanin is also under pressure from a legal complaint by another alleged victim's mother, protests drawing thousands, and magistrates who say chronic understaffing—not scapegoating judges—is the core failure.
The case has intensified scrutiny of France's wider record on child sexual violence, with an estimated 160,000 children abused each year and only 7% of minor sexual assault complaints ending in conviction.