Incest: the Duhamel case dismissed due to prescription

The investigation targeting renowned political scientist Olivier Duhamel, who admitted sexually assaulting his stepson "Victor" Kouchner when the latter was a minor in the 1980s, was dismissed on the sole ground that the facts are prescribed, has Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz announced Monday. Five months after the opening of an investigation for "rape and sexual assault by a person having authority over a minor of 15 years", "the Paris public prosecutor's office today filed a classification without continuation of the procedure, due to the prescription of public action, "wrote the prosecutor in a statement.

"This reason for classification is retained when the facts revealed or denounced in the proceedings constitute an offense which would have given rise to prosecution by the prosecution if the deadline set by law was not exceeded", explains the magistrate.

By these terms, the prosecutor implies that the facts are considered sufficiently established by the investigators.

Heard as a free suspect in April

Olivier Duhamel, 71, was heard as a free suspect on April 13 by the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM). The political scientist, former MEP and media figure, had recognized "with difficulty" the facts of incest, according to a source familiar with the matter. The accusations at the origin of the case, contained in the book

, have caused a stir since the beginning of January: in this autobiographical story, Camille Kouchner accuses her stepfather of having attacked her twin, nicknamed "Victor" , in the late 1980s.

Son of the former minister Bernard Kouchner and of the professor of law Evelyne Pisier (died in 2017) who had remarried with Olivier Duhamel, "Victor" had been questioned in a first procedure opened in 2011. He had then refused to testify complaint for these facts, already probably prescribed.

Now about 45 years old, "Victor" was heard by new investigators on January 21 and finally resolved to file a complaint.

Speech release

In 2018, parliament extended the statute of limitations from 20 to 30 years after the victim has reached the age of majority in matters of sex crimes against minors, but this new extension of the time limit does not apply to facts that were already prescribed when the law has been promulgated.

The publication of Camille Kouchner's book sparked a freedom of speech with many testimonies on incest, especially on social networks, and a vast debate on the fight against this violence. On February 26, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti wrote to prosecutors to demand a systematic investigation into the revelations of sexual offenses against minors, even when the facts were likely to be prescribed. Not only to verify if the prescription was acquired, but also to identify possible other victims as well as to allow the accused persons to explain themselves.