Sexual abuse in Paris after-school care: Youth worker on trial

The second trial in the sprawling case of physical and sexual abuse in the after-school care sector in Paris opens on Tuesday. David G., aged 35, is on trial for sexual assault of five children aged between three and five, as well as sexual harassment of two of his colleagues.

This is the first public trial since the first revelations around a year ago.

The freelance journalist, who works at the Alphonse-Baudin school to supplement his income, is facing a direct summons from four other families accusing him of sexually assaulting their children. This procedure allows a person to be summoned to court without going through the public prosecutor’s office.

The allegations against David G. date back to a period between the beginning of the school year in September 2024 and April 2025. When alerted, the City of Paris immediately suspended him and he was never reinstated.

Placed in police custody on 24 June, he continues to deny the charges against him.

“As far as I’m concerned, nothing happened,” he told the press last November. “There was no intimate contact with the children.” I had a relationship as a leader, that’s all, that’s the end of it.”

The case came to light when the parents of two girls noticed a change in their behaviour. The ensuing investigation led to a number of children reporting that David G. had touched their private parts or “wee-wee.”

In November, the two colleagues accusing him of sexual harassment said they had noticed nothing suspicious in his behaviour towards the children, except that he “carried the little ones in his arms too often” and “sometimes stayed too long in the toilet with them when they needed to relieve themselves.”

For his part, David G. acknowledged that he had broken certain rules in the staff charter, such as not placing a child on his lap or carrying them. He now faces up to 10 years in prison and a €150,000 fine.

Demonstration in support of the victims

The Me Too Ecole collective has called for a demonstration outside the Paris Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

“Not to make noise. Not to take the place of the courts. We will be there in support. For the children. For the families involved. For those who have found the courage to speak out,” the collective wrote on its social media networks.

Founded after the Alphonse Baudin kindergarten affair came to light, the group’s aim is to support the families who “found themselves faced with protocols that were deemed non-existent or inadequate, blurred responsibilities between institutions, schools and extra-curricular activities, and a profound sense of abandonment.”

“This rally will be silent, dignified and respectful of judicial time. But we will not look away. Because no child should be afraid to go to school.”

Me Too Ecole also wants to go further, calling for “concrete measures that can be applied everywhere” such as “compulsory training for all people in contact with children” and the “identification of a child protection officer in every school.”

The collective is also calling for the “creation of an independent observatory of violence in schools to monitor reports, investigations and their follow-up” as well as the “annual publication of anonymised and public data on incidents of violence in schools throughout France.”

Surveys of over 110 schools

At the beginning of May, another teacher went on trial for sexual harassment and sexual assault of minors. In this trial, which was held behind closed doors, prosecutors demanded 18 months imprisonment. The final decision is expected on 16 June.

Three other trials for sexual violence relating to after-school activities are scheduled to take place in Paris between now and the beginning of September.

Since the revelations emerged, the public prosecutor’s office has investigated 84 nursery schools, around 20 elementary schools and 10 crèches, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced on the broadcaster RTL.

In early April, Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said that the city had subsequently suspended 78 staff members, including 31 on suspicion of sexual violence.

Grégoire, who was Anne Hidalgo’s first deputy from 2018-2024 and was in charge of human resources for three years, also announced a number of measures, including the creation of a “unit for listening to and reporting educational violence” and the opening of a Children’s Centre to take care of victims.

The plan was adopted on 14 April and is estimated to cost €20 million. “We must do everything we can to protect our children. Violence against them is unacceptable,” the mayor said at the time.

Grégoire made child protection a major focus of his campaign. Last January, when he was running for mayor of Paris, he said that “awareness [should] be widespread.”

Speaking on BFMTV-RMC, he denounced “serious failings” and “poorly applied procedures.”

The scandal is not confined to establishments in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

On 20 May, 16 people who had worked at the Saint-Dominique public nursery school in the capital’s seventh arrondissement had their police custody extended. The suspects, aged between 18-68, were being questioned for offences ranging from rape to behaviour described as excessive or violent.