Haute-Saône: a sports trainer suspected of rape of minors has been indicted

A 57-year-old teacher, a sports coach in Haute-Saône, was indicted for rape, sexual assault and corruption of minors on several teenage girls in the 1990s and 2000s, the Besançon prosecutor's office said on Friday.

He was indicted for acts of "minor corruption" on two young girls, with whom he allegedly took showers naked, and "rape and sexual assault on minors" on two other victims when they were still teenagers , said the prosecutor of Besançon Etienne Manteaux.

The suspect, father of three daughters, disputes the facts

He was placed under judicial control, said the prosecution. The acts of rape would have happened in the family sphere for one of the young girls and during kayaking lessons for the other, for several years. The suspect, married and father of three daughters, disputes the charges against him. This history teacher "has been involved in many activities of minors, such as gymnastics, handball or kayaking, over decades. He has been in contact with many young girls," said Etienne Manteaux.

The investigation opened after a first complaint lodged in 2020, then a report made by the association "Le colosse aux pieds d'argile", which was aware of a similar testimony, was entrusted to the research brigade of the gendarmerie from Vesoul.

A call for witnesses was launched by the prosecutor of Vesoul, Emmanuel Dupic, "to possible other victims, having attended the handball club of Noidans-lès-Vesoul or the kayak club of Port-sur-Saône (Haute- Saône) in the 1990s and 2000s ".

"Two electroshocks"

"The difficulty of breaking the silence for the victims lies in the hold and the natural position of authority occupied by the adult, and even more so by his teacher or his trainer", underlined Emmanuel Dupic. "There are two electroshocks which allowed these young girls to denounce these facts: the film

for one and her motherhood for the other," he said.