Anger of high school students: The teenager arrested in Metz denies having been sexually assaulted by a police officer

The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was contacted on Tuesday after the broadcast on social networks of a video showing the arrest of a young girl in Metz, in Moselle, on the sidelines of high school demonstrations. Video whose comments accused the police officer of having sexually assaulted the teenager by touching her hair and chest. The high school student herself denied these accusations, we learned from the Metz public prosecutor's office.

The Metz public prosecutor's office decided to open an investigation after the viral broadcast of this video on Monday evening, implicating a BAC police officer. The investigations were therefore entrusted to the IGPN and the Anti-Cybercrime Office, “to shed light on the conditions of the young girl’s arrest” and, above all, “to establish the existence or not of acts that could be qualified as sexual assault on a minor under 15,” explains the prosecutor, David Touvet.

Police officer files defamation complaint

The alleged victim, aged 14, was quickly identified. She was heard on Tuesday by IGPN investigators. During her hearing, “she refuted any act of violence and any act of sexual assault on her person during her arrest,” underlines the prosecutor. Moreover, his legal representative who accompanied him to this hearing did not file a complaint.

On the other hand, the police officer in question filed a complaint on Tuesday “on the charge of public defamation against a holder of public authority”. On this specific aspect of the investigation, investigations are underway to identify the author of the video.