had measures been taken against the harassment?

The young Lucas, 13, committed suicide and for the family the harassment and homophobia of which the young boy was a victim are the cause of this gesture. An investigation is opened.

While the suicide of Lucas, a 13-year-old boy, is causing a stir, the Epinal prosecution has opened an investigation for harassment of a minor under the age of fifteen. The “whole” and openly homosexual young man was harassed and the victim of mockery and homophobia in his college in Golbey, in the Vosges, according to his family. Investigators must now shed light on this case and determine if sufficient measures had been taken to protect Lucas from these stalkers. It is in any case not the opinion of the mother of the teenager who in a letter read by her friends on the antenna of BFM TV deplored the lack of concrete measures taken against acts of bullying at school. “How many suffering children, cruelly affected families and amputated brothers and sisters will it still take for concrete actions to finally be put in place in places where every child has the right to schooling without harassment?” , questions the victim’s mother, promising to “dedicate her entire life to continuing the fight for Lucas”.

What measures had been taken against Lucas’ harassment?

Lucas and his family discussed the harassment that the young man had suffered “for more than months” at school because of his homosexuality, according to the hearings of the victim’s relative. The public prosecutor of Epinal clarified that the family had not filed a complaint but that “the facts had been reported to the National Education, which had received the minors”. Elements confirmed by Valérie Dautreme, academic director of the national education services in the Vosges, who expressed her emotion to France Blue Lorraine. She told our colleagues that she had been alerted to the “mockery” linked to the teenager’s homosexuality, in September, during a parent-teacher meeting. “The situation was taken very seriously by the school, by the head teacher,” she said, adding that she believed “things had worked out.” “When there was the second parent-teacher meeting at the end of last year, the mother and Lucas said that things were going better and that Lucas was fine,” said Valérie Dautreme in The Parisian.

For its part, the rectorate of the Grand Est region has indicated to France 3 that after the report of harassment “the college teams showed great vigilance on a daily basis, while maintaining the link with the student and his family.” Since Lucas’ suicide on January 7, a psychological unit has been set up at Louis Armand College, the establishment in which the fourth-grade student was educated. The rectorate also recalled that “the establishment is committed to the pHARe system to fight against harassment, to raise awareness among all students and educational teams on this essential subject for the well-being of all”.

An investigation opened after the suicide of Lucas

An investigation, entrusted to the police station of Épinal, has been opened to establish whether the malicious acts, of which the young boy was the victim, are indeed the cause of the suicide. An autopsy has already been performed on the teenager at the Forensic Institute of Nancy. This confirmed that he had killed himself. As reported in particular BFM, Lucas’ family intends to file a complaint. “There is a whole series of chains of responsibility which can be sought and engaged if, in fact, the elements of an offense have been constituted”, explains Me Catherine Faivre, the family lawyer, of whom BFM is the l ‘echo.

Strong reactions in the political class after the suicide of Lucas

Can the death of Lucas generate a start and an awareness at the height of the drama? This is apparently what the Minister of National Education wants to believe, who was moved by the suicide of the young boy, aged 13, who was subjected to acts of harassment in his college, in Golbey, in the Vosges, near Épinal. “All my thoughts are with Lucas. […] I think of all the students like him who are harassed: their despair is the basis of my determination to prevent all forms of harassment. No child should find suicide as the ultimate outcome”, he wrote on Twitter. Remember that Emmanuel Macron assured that the fight against school bullying was one of the priority causes of his five-year term.

A kitty to finance the funeral of Lucas

While the funeral of young Lucas is announced for Saturday January 14, 2023 in Épinal, an online kitty has been opened to raise funds to finance them. On Leetchi, we can thus read: “Today, we are setting up this kitty to support parents and family in this painful ordeal. Your donations will be used to have a funeral worthy of the love we have for Lucas. Thursday, at the end of the evening, a little more than 7,500 euros had been collected. For Lucas’ funeral, his parents invite those present to wear an LGBT sign in tribute to their son. As reported Morning Vosgesthe family also asked that the funeral take place “in calm and respect”.