Nanterre public prosecutor's office is investigating a decades-old case targeting Jean-Michel Merlin. Merlin was director and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Nouvellecité, the media of this Catholic movement created in 1943.
Like all Focolarinis, Merlin, now 83 years old, had taken a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. He allegedly committed sexual assaults between 1984 and 1988, between the ages of 13 and 17, and allegedly were committed by Merlin.