Outreau trial

The Outreau trial was a 2004 criminal trial in northern France on various counts of sexual abuse against children. The trial and the appeal trial revealed that the main witness for the prosecution, convicted for the abuse, had lied about the involvement of other suspects, who were in fact innocent. Several innocent suspects had nevertheless spent years jailed on remand and one died while in prison.

The trials resulted in a national outrage in France, with journalists, politicians and the public opinion questioning how such a miscarriage of justice could happen, with innocent men and women being held for years in jail on unfounded suspicions. In January 2006, a parliamentary inquiry was created, with President Jacques Chirac calling the affair a "judicial disaster".

The "Outreau affair", which concerned an alleged criminal network in Outreau, a working class town next to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas-de-Calais region, began in November 2001. The first trial took place in Saint-Omer in 2004, and the appeal took place in Paris in 2005.

Eighteen people were accused. Mostly parents, they were charged with child sexual abuse and incest and their children were separated from them for much of this time. The affair began when some school teachers and social workers noticed “strange sexual behavior” from four children in a local school. Psychologists believed the children to be credible witnesses, but doctors found no evidence of sexual abuse. The parents were accused on the testimony of some of the children, which was then backed up by the confessions of some of the accused.

The defendants were held in custody for from one to three years. In the first trial (in 2004), four of the eighteen admitted guilt and were convicted, while seven denied involvement and were acquitted. Six further defendants denied the charges but were convicted and given light sentences – they appealed their convictions, and were heard by the Paris Cour d'assises in autumn 2005. On the first day of the hearing, the prosecution's claims were destroyed, and all six were acquitted. Another defendant died in prison while awaiting trial.

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