(Adnkronos) – France is shaken by a huge child abuse scandal: “educators” from dozens of state nurseries and primary schools are under investigation for violence, sexual assault, and rape. Parisian police are examining over 100 complaints of mistreatment, physical violence, and rape against children as young as three years old, committed by school supervisors during lunch breaks, naps, and extracurricular activities, as confirmed by the prosecutor’s office. “We have ongoing investigations in 84 kindergartens, about 20 primary schools, and about 10 day centers,” said Paris chief prosecutor, Laure Beccuau. Lawyers stated that the investigations include alleged rapes of children as young as three and four years old.
Parents’ associations have stated that they have fought for years for the accusations to be taken seriously. They argued that deficiencies in the recruitment process and vetting of school supervisors allowed the abuse to continue. “It’s a huge scandal,” said Florian Lastelle, lawyer for three Parisian families who filed complaints with the police for alleged abuse of their children. “The public school system is a source of pride in this country, but unfortunately today in France it cannot be said that public service guarantees the safety of children.” School assistants are adults who look after children during lunch breaks, recreation, naps, and extracurricular activities, sometimes spending more time with them than teachers. They are not directly hired by schools or the Ministry of Education, but are recruited by the Municipality or local authorities, often without training or professional qualifications and increasingly on call contracts, many of whom are paid hourly.
In France, kindergarten attendance is mandatory from the age of three, and school assistants are a fundamental daily presence for children aged three to eleven. Accusations made by parents across France against school assistants include children being subjected to shouting, pushing, hair pulling, being denied food, forced to eat until they vomit, and experiencing sexual assault or rape. Lawyer Louis Cailliez, representing two Parisian families, filed a police report in February for alleged rapes of their children attending nursery school, which occurred in 2025. In one case, a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a school supervisor at a school in western Paris. In another case, a three-year-old boy was allegedly raped by the same supervisor, who had been transferred to another school following complaints of physical violence against children.
