A French man, Jacques Leveugle, aged 79-years-old, has been charged with the rape and sexual assault of 89 teenagers, reports mentioned on Wednesday. The ‘mass abuse’ case, however dates back to the 1960s and spans many countries.
The accused would travel to different countries and in each of the places where ‘he settled to provide tutoring and teach, he would meet young people and have sexual relations with them,’ reported BBC, citing Grenoble prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux.
Police allege that Leveugle could have carried out assaults not only in France, but also Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, Niger, Algeria, the Philippines, India, Colombia, and the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.
He was arrested after his nephew found a USB that allegedly detailed his "sexual relations" with minors aged 13 to 17.
Who is Jacques Leveugle?
For much of his life, Leveugle worked as an informal teacher or assistant at holiday camps.
Police allege the assaults took place between 1967 and 2022.
According to prosecutors, he would settle in different countries to provide tutoring or teaching and allegedly met young people through this work.
How Leuvegle's act unfolded?
Leveugle was living in Morocco at the time of his arrest and had travelled to the Isère region near Grenoble to visit his brother. His nephew, who had grown suspicious, examined the USB drive in October 2023 while Leveugle was away.
It allegedly contained "15 tomes of very dense material" - photographs and written accounts of his "sexual relations" with minors, Manteaux said.
"The victims we have spoken to tell us that he spent a lot of time helping them to learn foreign languages, awakening their sense of culture... He has a complex personality," the prosecutor said, reported BBC.
Did the French man kill his mother?
During questioning, prosecutors said Leveugle also allegedly admitted to killing his mother in 1974, when she was terminally ill with cancer, and his 92-year-old aunt in 1992, both by suffocation. A separate judicial investigation has been opened into those alleged killings.
Under French law, alleged sexual assaults that occurred before 1993 fall outside the statute of limitations and cannot be prosecuted. However, prosecutors say establishing the full scope of the alleged crimes remains important, reported BBC.
