Jean-Marc Schoepff, a 65-year-old priest from Nice, was indicted again on Tuesday by an investigating judge in Nice for sexual assault on a minor under 15.

The parish priest, since relieved of his duties, had already been indicted and briefly imprisoned.

But the procedure had been canceled for a technical defect.

Sébastien Liautaud, a 35-year-old Antibois, accuses Jean-Marc Schoepff of having touched him during a stay in Rome, when he was only 11 and a half years old, said

Nice-Matin

, who revealed information.

"Father Schoepff totally disputes the facts"

The priest's lawyers, Michel Cardix and Tina Colombani, have confirmed the indictment.

"Father Schoepff totally disputes the facts," said the second, adding that there is "no material element corroborating [his] accusations" for facts dating "to 1997".

Sébastien Liautaud had filed a complaint in 2019. The priest had refuted a dozen complaints against him, some for prescribed facts.

"This time, the facts are not prescribed", specified the lawyer of the thirty-something Me Vincent Ehrenfeld.

"The good news, according to him, is that the judge will organize a confrontation."

"If there is no confrontation, we will ask for one", also advanced Me Tina Colombani.

This new indictment comes a few days after the publication of the Sauvé report on child crime in the Catholic Church, estimating at 216,000 the number of children and adolescents victims of clerics and religious since 1950.

Pedocriminality

What legal consequences after the Sauvé report?

Justice

A former priest of Fréjus placed in police custody for suspicion of pedocriminality

  • Indicted

  • Justice

  • Nice

  • Religion

  • Priest

  • Pedocriminality

  • Church

  • Sexual assault