“I didn't know her age”: in Montpellier, a forty-year-old gave a sex toy to a 13-year-old girl

Me Vincent Paliès : “Cette relation n'aurait jamais dû exister.” MIDI LIBRE – François Barrère

The court of appeal extends the pre-trial detention of a Montpellier man who had a perverse sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl for several months.

He was not known to the police or the courts, had worked for 10 years as an engineer in a telephone company, and swears that he absolutely did not understand the situation which led to his being imprisoned for "rape and corruption of a 15-year-old minor."

The Montpellier Court of Appeal extended on Thursday, August 1, the pre-trial detention of a 41-year-old man, imprisoned last November, after having had a perverse sexual relationship for several months with a fragile teenage girl aged just 13. The forty-year-old was a friend of the young girl's father, who was distraught after her father died of a long illness, and who then swore to her that he would be there to help her through this painful ordeal.

A very special help: “He sent her a photo of his genitals via Instagram, then encouraged her to chat with him on Snapchat” summarized Tuesday July 31 the rapporteur of the investigating chamber, seized of a request for release. In July, he found the teenager in Palavas and forced her to have full sexual relations, without a condom. “He then gives her a sex toy and asks her to send him videos every night showing how she uses it.” In August, he asks her to join him in a wood in Crès for new physical relations, accompanied by sexual insults.

When questioned, friends of the teenager confirm having received confidences: “For six months she had to send him photos or videos with the sex toy every night, he had told her, if you scream or do anything, you will end up like your father."

While he acknowledges these sexual relations, the man stressed in the proceedings that she did not object. "This relationship began on social networks before becoming completely sexualized" emphasizes Me Vincent Paliès, the lawyer of the accused. “When he asks her age, she does not want to answer him. This relationship should never have happened, but this young girl who was exploring her sexuality never filed a complaint.”

It was the young girl's mother who discovered the truth, finding explicit messages and images on his phone. "I'm not telling you that it's not rape, but the expert report reveals that she has the body of a 16-year-old, and comments that you can't imagine from a young woman her age. Even the investigator points out to her after an hour of questioning: "We can see that you're the one who's getting him hot, sometimes he doesn't ask for anything and you're the one who sends him videos" insists Mr. Paliès.

The attorney general reframes the case: “Since 2021, the law considers that there is rape of a minor under 15 when the perpetrator is at least five years older. Here we have a 13-year-old complainant and a 41-year-old perpetrator. Added to this is a very particular context, a young woman weakened by the death of her father, who will find a very sympathetic ear. But the problem is that it's not just the ear."

The forty-year-old, for his part, clings to his version: "I don't deny what I did, but I didn't know his age. I had an upright upbringing with respect for people. I want light to shed light on what happened.” A light that could be sought in a few months, before the criminal court of Hérault.

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