New complaint for corruption of minors filed against Jérôme Barella

The procedure is getting heavier for Jérôme Barella. A new complaint for corruption of a minor was filed Thursday, September 3 against the main suspect in the murder of Lyhanna with the Auch public prosecutor's office (Gers), franceinfo learned from lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun, confirming information from Mediapart. She represents Marie* and her daughter Lise*, 15, who received several dozen messages by SMS from the 41-year-old man, between February and summer 2025, according to the information site.

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Marie and her daughter Lise wanted to file a complaint two months ago but, according to Marie's story to Mediapart, confirmed by their lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun to franceinfo, they were dissuaded by the Auch gendarmes. The teenager and her mother had in fact been summoned for a hearing on July 1 by the gendarmes, after having reported themselves to investigators following Lyhanna's death.

“We feel like you’re avoiding us.”

Lise then presented the text messages sent to her by Jérôme Barella last year, whom she met in his taekwendo club. She was then 13 years old. He repeatedly asks her for a photo, according to their exchanges consulted by Mediapart, which had already been revealed in June by BFMTV. He also invites her to the swimming pool or to a “pajama party” at his home, with his daughter.

And, while Lise spaces out her answers, he becomes insistent: “Are you being angry with us or has something happened?” And added: "We have the impression that you have been avoiding us or even [that you] have been running away for a while. (...) Every time we offer to see each other, you never can." Lise told investigators that she then blocked Jérôme Barella.

“I thought they were going to take things very seriously”

At the time the teenager was interviewed by the gendarmes at the beginning of the summer, the forty-year-old was already taken into custody, having quickly become the main suspect in the disappearance of young Lyhanna. A report from the General Inspectorate of Justice and the General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie pointing to serious judicial dysfunctions in the monitoring of the forty-year-old had also just been made public.

Despite this, Marie, Lise's mother, claims that the gendarmes dissuaded them from filing a complaint. “I thought they were going to take things very seriously. But no, in the end…” she regrets to Mediapart. “They should have handled this case delicately given the problems that led to the death of a little girl,” laments the family’s lawyer, Myriam Guedj Benayoun, to the site.

Contacted by franceinfo, the communications department of the national gendarmerie confirms that this hearing took place on July 1 but does not wish to say more and refers it to the Auch public prosecutor's office. At this time, the court has not responded to our requests.