The Minister of Justice of France, Gerald Darmaninhe acknowledged this Monday “extremely serious errors” and a “dysfunction” of the system in the death of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old minor allegedly murdered by a man who had several complaints of pedophilia, but who was never arrested or interrogated for it.
The little girl’s case has generated a wave of indignation in the country, forcing the political class to make a move after a chain of court rulings which allegedly led to Lyhanna’s death. For this reason, this Monday during a press conference, Darmanin announced that a review will be carried out with “absolute priority” of 70,000 active complaints affecting cases of violence and sexual assault against minors. The Government called for the mobilization of prosecutors and a deadline has been set until July 31 to launch a State statement about the evolution of these complaints.
For the minister, the errors that occurred in this case are not related to the lack of resources in the judicial sector, despite the fact that the unions insist that they need reinforcement to address the wave of this type of complaints. “There will be neither a law nor additional means”reiterated Darmanin, who also has ruled out his resignation after the magistrates’ union stated that “its political responsibility remains full” in the Lyhanna case, something that the minister has rejected.
An avoidable death
For many, the murder of little Lyhanna was an avoidable death. In 2025, a mother already denounced the alleged murderer, Jérôme Barella, for the rape of her daughter. His case did not receive any type of police follow-up despite the fact that The 40-year-old man already had nine legal proceedings for child abuse behind him.
The first known procedure against him dates back to December 2017. At that time, the mother of a 17 year old high school student, enrolled in the institute where Barella worked as maintenance personnel, filed a complaint. However, the case was filed after the young woman declared that the relationships were consensual.
Between 2018 and 2021, Jérôme Barella worked in several institutes in the Gers department, but in 2020 he was subject to disciplinary proceedings and dismissed of one of his works “after a complaint of inappropriate behavior towards a student.
In January 2022, the Béthune prosecutor’s office opened a new Barella case after receiving a complaint for raping a 7-year-old girl at the defendant’s home. Again, the complaint was dismissed “lack of evidence”. After Lyhanna’s death, the Auch prosecutor’s office announced that the case will be “re-examined.”
Association outrage
The criminal record has outraged the different associations that fight against sexual violence in childhood. They don’t understand how despite the background registered, the Administration was not able to follow up, point out or simply interrogate the suspect.
“The voices of the victims clash with the functioning of the judicial system, but not only with that: they clash with the functioning of social, educational and health institutions. Denial is evident in the functioning of all institutions, but since it mainly affects serious crimes, it is manifested above all in the functioning of the police and the judicial system,” Édouard Durante, magistrate and former president of the Ciivise association, stated in an interview for France Inter.
While France seeks those responsible for this deadly mistake, Lyhanna’s family awaits the results of the complementary autopsy to determine the cause of the little girl’s death. The forensic team ordered additional tests due to the lack of clear signs. The results are expected to be known next week.
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