The host Jean-Marc Morandini, already sentenced in January 2025 for sexual harassment, saw another sentence for corruption of minors confirmed and weighed up on appeal in March.
Jean-Marc Morandini was sentenced Friday March 21, 2025, by the Paris Court of Appeal, to two years in prison sentence and 20,000 euros fine for acts of corruption of minors committed on three adolescents between 2009 and 2016. The animator, heard for more than 9 hours in hearing in November 2024, is also condemned to a ban on exercising a profession in contact with minors and his name will be registered in the infringement. sexual, also indicated the court. An increased conviction in relation to that pronounced at the first instance in this case.
On December 5, 2022, Jean-Marc Morandini had indeed already been found guilty of the first time of corruption of minors before the 15th chamber of the Paris court. The latter had sentenced the host of CNews to one year in prison suspended probationary of 2 years, with obligation of care, a penalty in accordance with that required by the prosecutor.
In detail, the animator is found guilty of having exchanged sexual messages with two adolescents, and of having pushed a third to strip, as part of a casting. On the merits, Jean-Marc Morandini is accused of having made sexual proposals to these two complainants and a third minor, when they were respectively 15 and 16 years in 2009 and 2013, by digital means, but also during a meeting presented as a casting.
During the trial, Jean-Marc Morandini had denied as a whole, evoking “clumsiness” or attempts “of humor” to justify his messages. The host had also mentioned “stupid” seduction games and recognized that they had sometimes been able to flatter his ego.
Another verdict in the so -called “hawk” case
It is not the only case that led to a conviction for the host. On January 27, the Paris Court of Appeal also admitted Jean-Marc Morandini guilty of sexual harassment against a young actor and sentenced him to 18 months suspended imprisonment, aggravating the sentence of six months suspended prison sentencely in first instance in August 2023. The host was also sentenced to a fine of 50,000 euros for “concealed work”. The facts date back to 2015, when the victim, Gabriel P., tried to be recruited for the casting of a web series, “the hawks”, produced by the host.
Gabriel P. had first received two emails from Jean-Marc Morandini at the time, who then used the false identity of Catherine Leclerc, a casting director. In one of these emails, signed “Maman”, the one who always officiates on CNews asked the victim if he was ready to make a blowjob to Jean-Marc Morandini “who is not just anyone” against a potential role. The young actor, then aged 19 and worried about his career would then have replied: “It is obvious that I will not do the difficult on nudity (…). I will obey what you will order me”.
“A psychological gear”
During the first trial of Jean-Marc Morandini, the president of the 31ᵉ Correctional chamber of Paris declared, by reading the judgment of the court, that the requests of the animator had gone “crescendo” to the point that the victim had found himself “taken in a psychological gear set up by the defendant”. The false identity of Catherine Leclerc was also pointed out during the two trials as a “maternal and reassuring figure inspiring confidence” by investigators, pushing a Gabriel P. without experience “to always push her limits in the act of sexual nature, under the alleged pretext of working her posture as an actor”.
If the case of Gabriel P. led to the heaviest conviction, Jean-Marc Morandini was more generally prosecuted for having asked several young actors, aged 19 to 26 at the time of the facts, to send him photos of them naked for this same cast. E -mails have revealed explicit encouragement to send videos from the razed pubis, in masturbation scenes, sometimes with ejaculations.
The verdict of January 27, 2025 also confirmed the sentence of Jean-Marc Morandini to pay 10,000 euros to Gabriel P. “, in particular for prejudice to image”, as well as the victims of concealed work. Jean-Marc Morandini will also have to follow psychological care.
So far, the CNews channel, employer of Jean-Marc Morandini, said that the host would keep his post by defending himself behind the “respect for the presumption of innocence”.