INTERVIEW
A lifeguard compared this Friday to the Assize court of Evreux, Normandy, for sexual assault and rape of 22 minors between 1995 and 2011. The youngest victim would have been 9 years old at the time of the facts . It is the complaint of a young man in 2014 that had revealed the alleged actions of this swimming coach of Pont-Saint-Pierre, in the Eure.
Minor at the time of the facts, Marc (false name, he wishes to remain anonymous) was barely 12 years old when he would have suffered the first sexual assaults of his lifeguard. It was not until about ten years after the events that he was finally able to denounce them.
Heard on europe1:
"We are challenged, we feel shame and guilt"
Heard on europe1:
"What prompted me to testify and file a complaint is that at the time of the complaint, he was still in office," said the alleged victim. "It was important for me to stop him, it was also important that people who have been affected like me can be helped and supported."
"Weight loss, difference in growth pattern and depression"
Placed in custody, the suspect denies the facts of assault and rape and speaks of caresses. Other young men testified too. They describe the same scenarios, always without violence, but on the occasion of games. The assaults took place especially in the home of the lifeguard, who housed his students during training courses organized over several days at the pool. Some stopped swimming to escape.
"These people are very close to children, they have a strong impact on the psychological and physical development of children," says Marc. "In my case, it resulted in weight loss, growth curve difference, and depression." Even though my parents had a psychiatrist follow me, I could not get that out. That's because it's very hard, what happened is shameful, we put it on us, not on it, it's us that we're questioning. Guilt It's important to denounce these things so that it stops. "