Pictures of naked children in a facilitator's phone: is the recruitment of animators flawed?

Thibaud Hue with AFP / Photo credit: REMY GABALDA / AFP 07:14, July 20, 2023

An animator of an outdoor center in Toulouse, suspected of sexual assault on a minor and filming children he took to the toilet and then broadcast the images on the internet, was indicted Wednesday, we learned from the prosecutor's office. What is at issue in this case is above all the shortcomings in the hiring of this type of individual.

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A 28-year-old man

This 28-year-old man, "employed by the city of Toulouse and intervening in several structures (...) created content on the web from photographs or films of prepubescent children whose nudity he captured in his workplace by focusing on private parts," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. He was arrested Monday in a school in the center of Toulouse where he worked, and placed in custody.

200 photographs, 82 videos of children

Subsequently, "the sole exploitation of the mobile phone used by the person concerned made it possible to discover nearly 200 photographs and 82 videos of children sometimes naked, private parts revealed," adds the prosecutor.

The host was indicted for "capturing, fixing and exporting child pornography images and sexual assault on a minor of 15 years", said the prosecutor's office which requested his pre-trial detention.

Informed on Monday of his custody, the mayor of Toulouse claims to have "immediately suspended" him from his duties. "All measures have been taken not to disturb and accompany children and their parents including the establishment of a listening cell," announced the town hall which "will file a complaint with the constitution of civil party".

To become an animator, only a criminal record is required

Today to become an animator, the path is rather simple. An interview, questions to identify the profile of the candidate. Only a criminal record is required and this does not prevent paedocriminals from working in contact with children. This is what Anissa, activist and founder of the association Young and Safe, points out against violence against children and adolescents. She is the source of the hashtag #MeTooAnimation.

"It again proves nothing at all. A whole section of the people who could potentially be reported are not reported. Simply because the victims are not going to file a complaint. And often complaints do not succeed. And in those cases, the director of the ventilated centre or the director can't know," she says.

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This summer, Anissa is also an animator and assistant director of a summer camp. It recommends more vigilance on the part of agencies. "When we recruit facilitators, what I do on the phone is really do long interviews to ask questions that are more focused on the concept of sexual violence. Then, at the agency level, we should actually have a file where reports are grouped. Often, we will have facilitators who report to their director, director, behaviors of their colleagues and there is no follow-up, "she says at the microphone of Europe 1.

The sector is becoming increasingly fragile and struggling to find facilitators. As a result, organizations with their backs to the wall are forced to recruit anyone sometimes, says Anissa.