A Paris court acquits a school aide of sexually assaulting preschoolers but gives him a suspended sentence for harassment.
PARIS: A Paris court on Tuesday acquitted a French school aide of sexually assaulting kindergarten pupils, in the first such public trial since a flurry of allegations of abuse rocked the capital.
Parents in the city have accused supervisors in charge of children outside the classroom — such as during recess or before pick-up — of mistreating or physically or sexually abusing pupils in their care.
David G., a 36-year-old freelance journalist who worked in a kindergarten to help make ends meet, had been charged with the sexual assault of nine preschoolers aged three to five and sexual harassment of two female colleagues between September 2024 and April 2025.
The defendant, who denied any wrongdoing, was acquitted of the sexual assault charges on the grounds of reasonable doubt.
He was however given an eight-month suspended sentence for sexually harassing his coworkers.
Explaining the ruling, the presiding judge said the children’s testimony may have been influenced by their parents and that no adult had reported any sexually abusive acts involving children at the school, prompting angry outbursts from the civil parties.
Prosecutors had requested detention of one year to be served under electronic monitoring without parole.
Paris has seen a wave of reports, with Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire — who says he was sexually abused during an after-school primary school swimming programme — announcing dozens of suspensions and pledging to stamp out such violence.
Since the start of the year, the city has suspended 132 aides, including 52 suspected of sexual abuse, a figure the mayor has said reflects a “systemic problem”.
