The 52-year-old former goalkeeper of the French hand team resigned from his post as president of the League for events that occurred in the summer of 2020 and was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and to a fine of 2,500 euros for "
corruption of minors over 15 years of age, acquisition and possession of the image of a minor presenting a pornographic character
".
“
That the kid was 13 years old, it's indisputable.
But I did not know it,
he assures the sports daily.
That's the first point.
Then, regarding the images, the police conducted a two and a half year investigation.
She came to search my Parisian home on January 23, as well as my former home in Hérault, where my ex-wife and my daughter live.
The police recovered computers, there for a good ten years, telephones, USB keys... And they found nothing.
Obviously.
(...) I am not... a pedophile.
I feel like saying that as justification.
But it's the truth.
»
Watch the videoBruno Martini, president of the National Handball League, resigns
Bruno Martini looks back on his depression of 2019-2020 and how much, during the Covid period, he “withdrew into (himself): “
I could have descended into violence, alcohol or drugs, he continues.
(…) For me, sex was a pretext.
Not a finality.
I've done things that aren't me.
Although I am heterosexual, I have indulged in homosexual experiences.
If I was one
(a pedophile),
I would have gone to TikTok, where the young people are and the pedophiles go, as a policeman from the vice squad explained to me.
Not on Snapchat, where there are a lot of adults.
»
The facts for which he pleaded guilty are to have invited a 13-year-old minor to his home, after having exchanged photos of a sexual nature with him on the Internet.
At the foot of Bruno Martini's building, the teenager had backtracked.
“
It was there, on Snapchat, that the kid contacted me, towards the end of this period
(May-June 2020).
I didn't go looking for it.
When I found out that what I thought was a young adult was actually a 13 year old kid, I was flabbergasted.
Then I felt ashamed.
So ashamed
”.
The former PSG manager expresses deep regrets, especially towards his ex-wife and children.
“
I am going on my 53 years and
(…)
my life is a field of ruins.
We must not delude ourselves.
Rehabilitation, I don't believe in it.
It does not exist.
If you type my name on the Internet, you think what will now appear first is “Bruno Martini, double world handball champion?
No, it will be that story.
And if one day I have grandchildren, that I can see them, and they ask me: “Grandpa, what have you done in your life?
“I exhibited myself in front of a 13-year-old kid.
It's horrible.
»
And the former international goalkeeper to confess his discomfort: “
Feeling this guilt led me to this guilty plea, which is social suicide.
I could have physically committed suicide.
I don't know which is best, after all.
What is certain is that my life ended on January 23, 2023
.
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