A few days before the start of the school year, these parents from the 19th arrondissement of Paris are “dismayed”. They have just learned, via an email, that their children registered at the Leman-Belleville, Eugénie Cotton and Georges Thill leisure centers this summer have “potentially been in contact” with a leader suspected of sexual assault on a minor.
“An investigation was entrusted, on August 17, 2026, to the brigade for the protection of minors following the denunciation of gestures of a sexual nature by a child hosted in a Parisian leisure center”, confirms to 20 minutes the Paris prosecutor's office which specifies that “the investigations are in progress”.
At nap time
If the parents of the students do not know the identity of the facilitator, they were invited Thursday evening to an information meeting organized urgently by the District of School Affairs and Early Childhood (CASPE) and the central services of the Directorate of School Affairs of the City of Paris (DASCO).
“The situation is unprecedented for us,” confided the organizers of this meeting (which 20 Minutes attended) who do not know the identity of the victim and do not know whether the latter’s parents have filed a complaint. “We were contacted by the Minor Protection Brigade for a requisition” concerning a temporary facilitator, they mention. The facts allegedly occurred this Monday, August 17 “at nap time” in the resource center (a school welcoming small section and very small section students from several leisure centers, Editor’s note) which welcomed children from the three establishments for the day.
Faced with the seriousness of the facts, the host was placed in police custody. DASCO, “in application of a strict precautionary principle, decided to remove this facilitator, as a precautionary measure” from Tuesday August 18, specifies the email sent to parents. “He is no longer in contact with children in a Parisian school,” it is specified.
“We wonder how the start of the school year will go”
Contacted, the representative of parents of students at Georges Thill school, Alexandra Castel, described a feeling of “anxiety” and “fear” among parents. “It’s a shock. When we received the email informing us of the situation, we immediately wondered if our respective children were affected. It's dismay, we're talking about children from 3 to 6 years old, she laments, We wonder how the start of the school year will go. »
Aware of similar news revealed for several months in the capital, and almost everywhere in France, the representative says she is “pleasantly surprised by the speed of action” in the middle of August. “The town hall gave us the information it could”, but the circumstances remain “fuzzy” according to the mother who hopes to have additional information quickly.
“At this stage we have little information,” laments the CASPE of the 19th arrondissement, which calls on parents to remain attentive to what their children say. A psychological listening unit for parents, specially dedicated to issues of violence against children, has been set up by the City of Paris.
