The trial of navigator Kevin Escoffier, accused of sexually assaulting four women, opens Monday

Navigator Kevin Escoffier appeared all day on Monday, November 9 before the Lorient criminal court where he must answer for four sexual assaults. In total, four women filed complaints for having been touched between 2017 and 2023. The skipper, aged 46, known for his extremis rescue by Jean Le Cam after capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope in the Vendée Globe in 2020, disputes all of the accusations. His lawyer even hopes to have the entire procedure canceled.

The four complainants denounced similar facts, when, under the influence of alcohol, Kevin Escoffier slid his hands over private parts of their bodies in bars or promotional evenings in Lorient, Newport, Melbourne and even Brazil. The testimonies of these sailors and colleagues of the skipper, widely publicized, had even triggered a #MeToo in sailing which highlighted fairly widespread abuses in an environment which still remains very masculine.

Up to five years in prison

Kevin Escoffier, however, denies each of the attacks which bring him before this court, where his lawyer will request on Monday the cancellation of the procedure. Me Virginie Le Roy affirms that the investigation by the Lorient public prosecutor's office was carried out "at the café du commerce", that it is based only on gossip: 93% of the charges come from indirect witnesses to the facts, she denounces, and no defense witness was heard.

“We just wanted to make an example,” continues the lawyer, stressing that her client has, since the complaints were revealed in 2023, been banned from competitions and “lost everything” before even being judged. Kevin Escoffier faces up to five years in prison. The feminist collective Nous Tous is calling for a rally in front of the Lorient court on Monday morning.