Sexual assault: Christophe Ruggia, accused by Adèle Haenel, placed in police custody

Accused of actress Adèle Haenel when she was still a minor, director Christophe Ruggia was taken into police custody on Tuesday morning after being arrested earlier in the preliminary investigation opened on November 6, 2019, counts of sexual assault on minors aged 15 per person with authority and sexual harassment.

This information from LCI, which we can confirm, also comes after the complaint filed by the actress, now 30 years old, on November 26. According to our information, the filmmaker's home in the 11th arrondissement of Paris is being searched by the police.

The poignant testimony of Adèle Haenel

In early November, in a testimony to Mediapart, Adèle Haenel had denounced the actions of Christophe Ruggia when she was only 13 years old. She accused the filmmaker, who made her turn in "Les Diables" in 2001 when she was 12, of "sexual harassment" and "touching" between 2001 and 2004.

Adèle Haenel's poignant testimony had an enormous sounding board, far beyond the simple circle of French cinema. Intervening one after the phenomenon #MeToo, consequence of the sexual scandal linked to Harvey Weinstein, the step of the young actress had been unanimously welcomed.

Within the profession, the Society of Film Directors, the Civil Society of Authors, Directors and Producers (ARP), Unifrance and the Syndicate of Independent Producers (SPI) had all published press releases welcoming this speech. In terms of actors, Marion Cotillard, Omar Sy, Marina Foïs and Géraldine Nakache have also published messages of support for Adèle Haenel.