A former head of a private school was sentenced Tuesday evening by the Annecy correctional court (Haute-Savoie) to three years in prison, one of which was suspended for sexual assault on minors and possession of child pornography images.
The defendant, 53 years old, was deputy director of the Saint-Michel Catholic high school-college at the time of the facts.
Two former students, aged about 12, had denounced inappropriate gestures during a snow class in Arâches-la-Frasse in January 2017 and January 2018, namely a hand on the genitals and a kiss on the mouth .
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Thousands of photos and videos uploaded by the former deputy director, indicted in May 2018, had been seized from his computer equipment, including images of naked young boys with a sexual connotation.
The defendant also admitted to having taken pictures of the children in the hallways and showers of the holiday center.
About twenty victims appearing in these photos or reporting inappropriate actions, were cited in the proceedings.
These students told the investigators hugs, kisses, caresses or even tickles from this supervisor, whom they nevertheless qualified as "
sympathetic
".
"We are facing a pedophile"
The latter, who left the private Catholic establishment in October 2018 with a conventional break, defended himself from having crossed the yellow line, preferring to speak of “
emotional behavior
” towards students. At the hearing, if he did not hide his attraction to young boys, the former deputy director affirmed that he had "
always mastered his impulses
" and assured that he "
never intended to harm
”children. “
We are facing a pedophile
”, warned for his part the prosecutor of the Republic of Annecy, Line Bonnet, describing “
the feeling of omnipotence and impunity
” of the defendant.
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The court also sentenced the 50-year-old to a five-year socio-judicial follow-up and to a definitive ban from exercising a voluntary or professional activity in connection with minors.
He will serve his sentence under an electronic bracelet.
Saint-Michel, which brings together more than 2,000 students, had already been marked in 2017 by a judicial investigation targeting another deputy director, the former mayor of Cluses Jean-Louis Mivel.
Suspected in a morality case involving minors, he died after a heart attack at the Annecy courthouse, where he was summoned for his indictment.