Nicolas Noguier, the former president of Refuge, an association for helping young LGBT + people in a situation of family breakdown, was released from police custody this Thursday evening in Montpellier.
According to our information, he was indicted by an investigating judge for rape, moral harassment, sexual harassment, concealed work and sexual assault.
The alleged rape was allegedly committed in 2014, while the acts of harassment allegedly took place between 2014 and the end of 2021. He was placed under judicial supervision following his interrogation.
His lawyers, Mes.
Sahand Saber and Stéphane Fernandez, want to be confident: “Nicolas Noguier was indicted but released under judicial supervision, proof that the charges against him are insufficient.
We are confident for the rest of the procedure.
»
Several local media, including Midi Libre and France Bleu, had reported earlier today that Nicolas Noguier had been taken into police custody in Montpellier on Wednesday afternoon, as part of an investigation opened in February 2021 for acts of moral and sexual harassment reported by former volunteers of the association and former young LGBT + collected.
A "failing" management of the association
The affair began in December 2020, when Mediapart revealed that dozens of employees and volunteers decided to leave the Le Refuge foundation. All then said they were "crushed", "used" or "humiliated" by the management of the Refuge, and denounced a form of moral influence, according to the investigative media. Two months later, a report by an independent firm, BCG, confirmed the “failing” management of the foundation which helps young LGBT people.
The Montpellier public prosecutor's office was then seized and opened an investigation for several serious facts, including a rape committed on a young person hosted by a person outside the Refuge.
Overwhelmed, Nicolas Noguier, president of the foundation, and his companion, the director Frédéric Gal, resigned in stride, in February.
So far, Nicolas Noguier has always denied the charges brought against him.
