François Devaux, 40, particularly remembers a color lift with his scout group Saint-Luc in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (Rhône) three decades ago. “There was a 2 CV in the parking lot which bothered Preynat. In a show of force, he then whistled the leaders of the troop who, at ten, immediately moved the car twenty meters further. He took up all the space when he spoke and everyone was silent. We, with our rangers, felt like we belong to a regiment of paras! Remembers this interior renovator.
This chaplain "with a very strong aura", endowed with a "military and patriarchal spirit", who "wanted to make little boys real men", it was also his predator in the Roman collar who, in spring 1990, defiled his innocence. Thirty years after having been a prey to his pedophile impulses, four years after having been confronted with him during police custody, the former Cub is expected to find the former priest this Monday morning at the Criminal Court of Lyon. The conditional is essential because this media trial, scheduled for a long time, and scheduled to last until Friday, could be disrupted by the strike of the black dresses of the Lyon bar opposed to the pension reform and therefore be postponed until Tuesday … or later.
On the bench for civil parties, François Devaux is one of ten "non-prescribed" victims, all male, of Bernard Preynat between 1986 and 1990. Become the symbol of a deviant clergy and of the omerta of Church summits, also triggering the "Barbarin affair", the 74-year-old defendant is tried for "sexual attacks on minors under 15 years of age" committed by a person with authority. An aggravated offense punishable by 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.
He who is no longer a “father” since he was dismissed from the clerical state following his canonical trial but who is still accommodated by the diocese - “until the trial included”, we are told at l archdiocese - now faces republican justice. "He will be present, he is in a state to appear," says his lawyer Frédéric Doyez. Victims to whom the abbot asked to "keep the secret" half a century ago, there will also be in the audience of the 17th chamber but they will not speak at the bar being, they, targeted by the prescription. Several dozen were thus identified during the investigation. The association La Parole libéré, which unites them, has recorded some 80 testimonies. The ex-scouts bring back blowjobs, touching, kissing… in the tent during summer camps or at the photo lab of the parish. They also relate the breath of cigarillo, the hot breath or the belly of their living nightmare.
VIDEO. Priest pedophile in Lyon: "I kept that for myself", confides a victim
During the investigation, the septuagenarian who favored fragile and therefore easy prey, those for example whose parents had just divorced, acknowledged most of the facts. But this cook's CAP holder did not give himself up. "This trial is going to be very important because until then, he has said little about him," warns Maître Doyez.
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And to evoke sexual assaults of which his client would have himself been the target, "several times" in his youth, especially when he was an altar boy. These five days of hearing should also shed light on the extremely complex personality of the defrocked priest. "When nothing had happened, he left an excellent memory in the memory of many Scouts," dares his advice.
As much idolized as hated but still feared
Behind the executioner who founded, in 1971 at the end of the seminary, an autonomous scout group in the upscale suburb of the capital of Gaul, looms a "charismatic" leader, as much idolized as hated but always feared. "I saw the organizing man with a lot of people around, who could mobilize 450 people for a weekend in the depths," says a former scout who has not been attacked.
"He had a double face, which is why parishioners supported him so much while rumors were circulating," explains Laurent Duverger, 51. Four decades ago, his carelessness was massacred by the abbot in the room where the theater costumes were stored or in the bus during a trip to Corsica. "He was the boss, we were under the thumb of his authority," he said. The clerk could also present himself "endorsement" when he came to eat at home. “It was far from being an ascetic. He had a good life, liked good food and drink well ”, explains this“ prescribed victim ”, who planned to attend the trial.
On the religious level, he remembers a vicar having a "rigorous analysis of the liturgy". “Without being traditional, he was very conservative. And on this point, he didn't get along very well with the other parish priests, ”he continues. The “narcissistic” clergyman knew how to show himself “cultivated”, making his little warriors anxious to raise their rank on the Templars or the Cathars. "He had a very high opinion of himself," he sums up. "He was quite learned, both omniscient and omnipresent, very attached to our learnings when we studied the Jungle Book or the duties of the scout," confirms Alexandre Hezez, 45, the first victim to have filed a complaint in 2015. "It was also very very authoritarian but allowed to do extraordinary things, trips, processions ...", he continues.
“He was a kind of whimsical guru. But as soon as he spoke, there were stars in the eyes of his interlocutors, ”underlines François Devaux. It was he who, in 1990, distilled an explosive confidence in his family. "I believe that the father, he likes me, he kissed me on the mouth," he said to his parents, who alerted the diocese authorities. Bernard Preynat ends up being exfiltrated the following year. "I liked my scouts very much, but I also liked too many," he explains in his farewell message to the faithful of Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon.
The chaplain with the massive build and wide glasses is then discreetly sent to the Little Sisters of the Poor. A simple sidelining of a few months by way of penance before being appointed by the cardinal of the time, Mgr Albert Decourtray, parish priest of Neulise (Loire). "He has a great capacity for adaptation, he manages to recreate his universe each time and regain the confidence of people despite the rumors that run", analyzes François Devaux.
He will still officiate in two other parishes until his fall and his eviction almost five years ago. Wherever he celebrated Mass, he left a mixed impression. "When he left, we greatly regretted it," testified in 2016, a retiree from Neulise when the scandal broke out. "He was a little haughty. Once, he asked me: But why didn't you go to mass, were you doing something else? "Taclait his neighbor. "He may have been bewitched," said a third lady. “One day, a parishioner who knew him well said to me: We feared him as much as we admired him, ” transcribed Pierre-Emmanuel Germain-Thill, 40, personal development coach.
VIDEO. Priest pedophile in Lyon: a victim explains why she filed a complaint
Civil party to the trial, shattered by Preynat when he was 8 years old, Pierre-Emmanuel Germain-Thil, condemned to carry his cross for an eternity, evokes a "perverse" with "bad air" who "stared at people". "As soon as he was in the position of the scout chief, he took a very dark, very hard, nasty look," he portrays. This look, which has since lost its edge, he is ready to face, right in the eye, for a week.
Landmarks
1971. Ordination of Bernard Preynat, who founded the Saint-Luc scout group in the parish of Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (Rhône).
1991. Under pressure from the parents of an abused victim, he was sidelined by his hierarchy among the Little Sisters of the Poor. A few months later, the priest was moved to Neulise (Loire).
1999. Transferred to Cours-la-Ville (Rhône).
2011. Appointed parish priest of Coteau (Loire).
2015. First complaints from former scouts. Cardinal Barbarin relieves him of his duties.
2016. Charged for sexual assault on minors.
2019. In March, Archbishop Barbarin was sentenced, at first instance, to six months suspended prison sentence for not having reported him to justice.
From January 13 to 17, 2020. Trial of Bernard Preynat at the criminal court of Lyon.
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