Rape of a family child in Nîmes: “I was afraid of this man for years”, testifies the victim

Le verdict est attendu ce jeudi. Midi Libre – ARCHIVE MiKAEL ANISSET

Jean-Louis, a sixty-year-old man, is accused of having raped this child who was his stepdaughter in Nîmes in 1996. The victim is, today, a mother. She filed a complaint with the gendarmerie in 2012. 

Accused of having raped his stepdaughter – a child aged around ten years old, Jean-Louis C., his stepfather claims& ;nbsp; his innocence, this January 17, 2024, before the Gard Assize Court… The testimonies are worrying. And the words of Christine (the first name of the civil party has been changed) who filed a complaint in 2012 are clear. 

" I have never raped anyone. I swear it on my children's heads. What I heard there… I'm sick,proclaims Jean-Louis, Wednesday evening. I was severe ? Yes. Maybe. I banged her and her mother ? Once. I got a little angry. There were one or two slaps. I admit that I was harsh,” describes the accused, who cries conspiracy, and is supported by his wife and three other children.

The dictaphone and the failed recording

According to certain witnesses, Jean-Louis is “a liar, a thief”, who has never worked or worked very little. He was the author of lousy moves to the detriment of those who tried to help him. According to these witnesses, he spoke extremely  hurt the one who had become his daughter and the eldest of his three other children. "He called her the bastard or the little fat girl, testifies a neighbor. He never had a tender or soothing word for this child. I told this little girl, if we hurt you, you have to tell us. She replied: no, no." Josette, was one of the neighbors of this family of four children, Place Galilée in Nîmes. She was, in a way, the maternal assistant and helped the couple with childcare when the mother was working.. "The mother was nice or didn't want to see anything. One evening, the gentleman was with this child and was watching a porn film.  From there, I started to worry", testifies the retiree. A social worker is alerted. Some friends of the couple or neighbors are also concerned about Jean-Louis' behavior and the presence of the “locked up” little girl. with his father-in-law in the family car which is parked in the basement of this building. The accused rolls his eyes to heaven, protests. It was the neighbors suspecting violence and some relatives of the child who were the first to alert child protection or the Nîmes police station. The first investigations were unsuccessful. Overheard by the police in Nîmes, the girl says nothing. 

"Jean-Louis was one of my best friends", says Eric. But I had doubts about sexual abuse, testifies this sixty-year-old. Taking a trip to Lozère as a pretext, Eric took the child and took a dictaphone with him to record his statements. That day, she would have recounted what Jean-Louis was doing to her. " But there was noise in the vehicle and the dictaphone did not record. Christine, the civil party, does not remember this trip. "And where is this recording ?", protests Me Aurélien Vergani, the accused's lawyer.

" I was locked in this silence

" I was afraid of this man for years, the victim said. And I waited 10 years, after leaving home, to file a complaint. I was locked in this silence…  There was this family influence. And I needed the love of my sisters and my brother. It was my anchor point. My mother never asked me any questions, never asked if anything had happened… ."   " She has been lying for 11 years, protests the accused. She invented everything."  Verdict this Thursday. 

I subscribe to read more