Norman Thavaud accused of rape: does the dismissal of the case mean that the YouTuber is “innocent” as he claims ?

This Sunday, August 11, 2024, YouTuber Norman published a video in which he returns to the case he has been the subject of since January 2022.

After two years of silence, YouTuber Norman published a video on his YouTube channel, this Sunday, August 11, in which he returned to the accusations of rape against him.

In his video, he explains in particular that he was released from these accusations by a dismissal without further action, pronounced in October 2023, and that he is now innocent. Is this really the case ?

"Insufficiently characterized offenses"

At 12 minutes 25 of his video, Norman Thavaud specifies "no longer presumed innocent" and be "innocent" now, in the preliminary investigation that has targeted him since January 2022 for rape and corruption of minors.

The 37-year-old YouTuber cites in particular as a foreword to his video, an extract from the report of the Paris prosecutor's office dating from October 2023: “Norman did not exploit his notoriety or the potential vulnerability of the complainants to the point of deceiving their consent. However, no testimony allowed for the precise establishment of inappropriate behavior towards the complainants or other young women”.

As a reminder, the dismissal without further action is the termination of a procedure by decision of the Public Prosecutor and is not definitive*. Which means that the case will not give rise to any trial in court.

Here concerning Norman Thavaud, the case was closed without further action in October 2023 for "insufficiently characterized offenses", that is to say that the elements constituting the offense are not clearly established or that the evidence is insufficient.

The dismissal of further action "is not a disavowal of the victim"

If the YouTuber has denounced "very serious" and "false accusations" with "cataclysmic consequences", the dismissal of the case does not allow not assert that the complainants lied.

Questioned by le Nouvel Obs, the judge at the Paris judicial court, Julien Portier, explains that this conclusion "< em>is not a disavowal of the victim" but "that’there are not enough elements to sustain a criminal proceeding likely to succeed’ quot;. A classification without further action "does not mean that it did not happen", specifies Valérie Duez-Ruff, lawyer at the Paris bar to our colleagues.

According to an unpublished note from the Institute of Public Policies, revealed on April 3, 2024, the rate of dismissal of cases rises to 86% in cases of sexual violence, reaching even 94% for rape. The main cause: insufficiently characterized offenses.

*Clearance without further action is not a final decision. The public prosecutor can reverse his decision at any time.