Targeted by a rape investigation, Cauet files a complaint for slanderous denunciation

Europe 1 with AFP 12:16 p.m., November 28, 2023

Famous TV host Sebastien Cauet, who is under investigation for rape, has filed a complaint with the Nanterre prosecutor's office, including attempted extortion, in response to the rape complaint against him, his lawyers announced on Monday.

Investigations entrusted to the brigade for the repression of personal delinquency

The public prosecutor's office, contacted by AFP, confirmed that it had received the complaint for attempted extortion by an organised gang, slanderous denunciation, forgery and use against unnamed persons, filed on November 23 at the Boulogne-Billancourt police station (Hauts-de-Seine).

"A complaint for the same qualifications was filed through his lawyer by several letters addressed to the Nanterre prosecutor's office," the public prosecutor's office said, indicating that it had entrusted the investigations to the brigade for the repression of delinquency against persons (BRDP).

"A man's honour cannot be thrown out to pasture," Cauet's lawyers said

"This legal action underlines the seriousness of the situation and responds to the slander orchestrated to seriously damage the honor and reputation of our client, with a hidden financial purpose," Cauet's lawyers, Xavier Autain and Simon Clemenceau, said in a statement.

"A man's honour cannot be thrown out to pasture on the basis of accusations that are as serious as they are unfounded," they added, indicating that "material evidence" had been handed over to the courts. A complaint was filed against the 51-year-old presenter on 18 November and the Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation for rape of a minor over the age of 15 and rape.

Cauet suspended from the NRJ antenna

Sébastien Cauet, a figure of comedy on radio and television for 30 years, has since been suspended from the air of NRJ. The complaint for two rapes was revealed by the magazine L'Obs last Tuesday. It was filed by a 25-year-old woman named Julie, who explained that the incident occurred when she was a teenager in 2014. She told BFMTV that when she met the host with the desire to do radio, he asked her for fellatio, which after an initial refusal she granted against her will.