Angers pedophile network

The Angers pedophile network case is a French criminal case in which sixty-two people were convicted of sexual abuse committed against forty-five children aged from a few months to 12 years old, between 1999 and 2002. Some of the accused are parents and grandparents of the victims identified.^[1]

The case started when a complaint had been filed in November 2000 by a 16-year-old girl, who had spoken about multiple rapes committed between 1991 and 1993. The alleged perpetrator of the attacks had already been in prison, having been sentenced in 1996 to ten years of criminal imprisonment in another case. Investigators from the Angers juvenile brigade had also followed Éric Joubert, brother of the perpetrator, who had also been sentenced in 1997 to a two-year prison sentence and one year of probation. In February of 2002, one victim spoke of her ex-partner, who allegedly abused her 5-year-old daughter.^[2]

On the sidelines of the investigation, Éric Joubert's associations have been studied and have attracted the attention of the police. Among them were Franck and Patricia Vergondy, parents of four children, who were suspected of being at the center of a child prostitution network.^[3] The case gained media attention on March 8th, 2002 with the publication of several press articles as well as the broadcast of a report on the 8 p.m. news of France 2.^[4] Around twenty victims were identified and five people were indicted for “rape of a minor under 15 years of age” , “aggravated pimping” , “complicity in rape” and “failure to report a crime”.^[5]

In the days that followed, details described as “sordid” by the public prosecutor were revealed by the media.^[6] In addition to the incestuous nature of the crimes, the age of the children, which had ranged from 6 months to 12 years, as well as the scale of the network had shocked investigators and the public. Coming from particularly disadvantaged backgrounds, the families involved had prostituted their children in exchange for sums deemed “insignificant” by the prosecutor. However, the investigation revealed that Franck and Patricia Vergondy received 150 to 300 euros per week, which were sums considered significant for a family living on social benefits.^[7]

• Outreau case