Paris (AFP)

French justice opened Tuesday a preliminary investigation for rape and sexual assault on minors by person having authority over the victim, in particular to the prejudice of the former skating champion Sarah Abitbol.

In a testimony book published last week ("Un si long silence", Plon), Sarah Abitbol, ​​ten times French champion of figure skating in pairs, European and world multi-winner in pairs, accuses her former trainer Gilles Beyer of having raped and sexually assaulted several times between 1990 and 1992, a period covered by prescription. She was between the ages of 15 and 17.

In a press release, the prosecutor Rémy Heitz specified that the investigations, entrusted to the brigade of minors, "will endeavor to identify any other victims who may have suffered, in the context described, similar offenses", beyond the facts discussed in this book.

Friday, Gilles Beyer, 62, admitted in a written statement to AFP, "intimate" and "inappropriate" with Sarah Abitbol, ​​offering him "apologies".

The former champion immediately refused these excuses and said on the website of the weekly L'Obs that she was waiting for a second step, "one that will highlight the responsibility of all those who covered, in the club (the Flying French, note) and to the federation ".

In the early 2000s, on the basis of a report from parents, Gilles Beyer had been the subject of a judicial investigation which did not succeed, then of an administrative investigation, which led the Ministry of Sports to to terminate his functions as a State executive on March 31, 2001.

- The FFSG in turmoil -

Despite this sidelining, Gilles Beyer continued his career in the Parisian flying French club, chaired by his brother Alain, until his ouster on Friday, and served several terms at the executive office of the French Sports Federation ice (FFSG) until 2018.

Other former skaters have made similar charges against Mr. Beyer and other coaches.

Hélène Godard accused Gilles Beyer in the sports daily L'Equipe and L'Obs of having had sex with her when she was 13 and 14 years old.

Anne Bruneteaux and Béatrice Dumur accused them of another former trainer, Michel Lotz, of having abused them in the 1980s when they were 13 years old.

This affair plunged the FFSG and its unsinkable president Didier Gailhaguet into turmoil.

Monday, the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, received Mr. Gailhaguet, head of the FFSG since 1998, with the exception of the period 2004-2007, to explain in particular about the retention, in the 2000s by Gilles Beyer, despite the suspicions that already weighed on him.

She also asked for her resignation, but the boss of the federation evaded questions about her future, promising to make revelations during a press conference Wednesday.

© 2020 AFP