17 new people accuse Abbé Pierre of sexual violence in a new report by the Egaé firm. The foundation that bears his name has reaffirmed its support for the victims and decided to change its name.
The shock never ends. Seven weeks ago, France discovered a hidden side of the past of Abbé Pierre accused of sexual violence. In a report by Emmaüs, seven women implicated him. At the microphone of France Interan eighth had testified to having suffered a sexual assault by the priest. But this was far from the mark. According to a new summary by the specialist firm Egaé, 17 other testimonies accuse him of sexual violence, reveals AFP, taken up by BFMTV And The Parisian.
The events took place between the 1950s and 2000s. “To date, it is possible to identify at least 17 additional people who suffered violence from” the priest who died in 2007, the report states. The nature of the attacks is diverse. In the majority of cases, “unsolicited contact on the breasts or forced kisses,” the report details. But several witnesses describe serious facts: “repeated sexual contact on a vulnerable person, repeated acts of sexual penetration on a person over 18, as well as comments of a sexual nature, forced kisses and other sexual contact on a child.” In total, the Egaé group indicates that it received around fifty emails and twenty telephone messages as of September 2. It had been contacted on July 17 by Emmaüs and the Abbé Pierre Foundation to collect potential new testimonies after the first accusations.
The Abbé Pierre Foundation has subsequently reaffirmed its support for the victims, and has declared that it is “changing its name”. The foundation “has initiated the steps planned for this purpose”, we can read.
Seven first victim testimonies
In a report by Emmaüs published on Wednesday, July 17, seven women testified against Abbé Pierre. According to the newspaper The Crossthey accuse the priest who died in 2007 of harassment and sexual assault committed by the man who was for a long time one of the French people’s favorite personalities. One of them said she was a minor at the time of the events.
A listening and testimony collection system has then been set up for “people who could also have been victims of similar events”. They will be able to be heard anonymously. New testimonies could therefore still emerge.
An eighth victim testified on France Inter on Saturday, July 20. She described events dating back to 2006, a year before his death. The priest, aged 93, was hospitalized in a military hospital in the Paris region. The eighth victim was a nurse there and explained: “I went to his room to accompany him to the toilet, he got up, he walked, and then he grabbed both of my breasts.” The woman then allegedly slapped the priest, who claimed he needed to hold himself, to which she allegedly replied: “In this big room, did you find nothing but my breasts to hold yourself?”, thinking that the story was over.
But when she mentioned this assault to her colleagues, “two or three others said ‘me too, he touched my breasts'”, explaining that the priest was “accustomed to it”. Facts that she did not report at the time, but which shook her Catholic faith. Eight years later, she explained that she realized “that it is not resolved, there is something in [elle] who suffers”.
Following the revelations about Abbé Pierre, we would like to remind you that it seems essential to us first of all to listen to the victims and tell them that we are on their side.
If you wish to testify, you can do so anonymously to Egaé
[email protected] 89 96 01 53 pic.twitter.com/0QsGNBDkAy— Emmaüs France (@emmaus_france) July 17, 2024
A known behavior?
The Emmaüs investigation report contains excerpts from direct and non-direct testimonies over eight pages. The stories span from the end of the 1970s to 2005. Of the seven women who testified anonymously, six reported alleged facts that could be described as sexual assault. The last one denounced sexist remarks. The report reveals a man of the Church who “does not stop himself from trying to satisfy his urges, feeling authorized to commit acts that were reprehensible by the law of the time”. “I am used to defending myself, but this time, it was God. What do you do when it is God who does this to you?” asks one of the women who claims to be a victim.
According to testimonies in the report, this behavior was known within certain structures founded by Abbot PierreOne employee said that women were advised never to go see him alone.
Damning stories
It was in June 2023 that a first woman contacted the Emmaüs management. She reported having suffered sexual assaults at the hands of Abbé Pierre in the early 1980s. The latter allegedly “introduced his tongue into [sa] mouth in a brutal and totally unexpected way” after a trip to Italy. After this first testimony, Emmaüs decided to mandate the Egaé firm to carry out an investigation into the subject. Twelve interviews were conducted and the report was made public. A second alleged victim also explained that she had been touched on the chest in a hotel room.
“We salute the courage of the people who have testified and allowed, through their words, to bring these realities to light,” emphasize the leaders of Emmaüs France, Emmaüs International and the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, in a press release relayed on their website. “We believe them, we know that these intolerable acts have left their mark and we stand by their side,” they added.