A wave of indignation has been unleashed on France after learning that the main suspect in the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl had been accused repeatedly sexually abuse minors without measures being taken in this regard. A body was found on Thursday and formal identification of the remains is underway. Dozens of police and volunteers had been combing the countryside in the southwest of the country for days in search of In shortwho disappeared on Friday near Fleurence, a town in Gers department.
The girl was last seen getting into a man’s car. A 41-year-old man, father of two childrenwas arrested as main suspect. After showing her security camera footage, he admitted to taking her in a car, but insisted that he had left her in a swimming pool.
The fiscal Clemence Meyer indicated on Wednesday that there were already previous complaints against him, which sparked national outrage over the alleged judicial deficiencies.
In December 2017a mother reported that her 17-year-old daughter was in a relationship with this man. The case was filed in 2018 after the young woman claimed that she had given her consent. In January 2022a complaint accused him of having raped a girl under the age of 15 in 2020 at his home in southwestern France. The case was referred to the local prosecutor, but was dismissed in 2024 due to lack of evidence. In August 2025, the mother of a minor born in 2014 filed a complaint for violations committed “between September 2024 and May 2025 at the suspect’s home,” according to Meyer. The complaint was forwarded to the local prosecutor’s office, which in January ordered the police to launch an investigation. However, the suspect had not yet been questioned when Lyhanna disappeared.
“Unbearable”
“What we are discovering day after day is absolutely unbearable. This raises a deeper question: What importance do we place on victims’ testimonies? How are investigations carried out?” Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon to the CNews network and Europe 1 radio.
He Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunezinformed Parliament on Wednesday that he had requested an investigation from the Ministry of Justice into the management of the cases.
“We are all shocked by this failed which, in my opinion, highlights our poor organization,” declared the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin.
