May 20, 2026, 8:28 p.mMay 20, 2026, 8:28 p.m
84 daycare centers, 20 schools and 10 day care centers under suspicion: The Paris public prosecutor’s office speaks of nationwide investigations into sexual violence. 16 people were arrested on Wednesday.
The scandal surrounding mass sexual violence in Parisian kindergartens and primary schools is expanding. The public prosecutor’s office in Paris said 16 people were arrested and taken into police custody on Wednesday in connection with allegations relating to a public kindergarten in the city center alone.
Those affected are accused of rape of minors, sexual assaults on minors and violence against minors. Some of those arrested had already been suspended from work.
For months, parents and politicians in Paris have been disturbed by reports of violence and abuse in the city’s after-school care centers, which have probably not always been consistently investigated. The problem of abuse was recently an issue in the local election campaign in the capital.
Investigations against over 100 institutions
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in an interview with RTL on Sunday that investigations have been started against 84 kindergartens, around 20 primary schools and 10 daycare centers. “All Paris arrondissements are affected.”
As the new Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced at the beginning of April, 78 student carers have been suspended from work since the beginning of the year alone, 31 of them because of suspicion of sexual violence. In 2025, 30 carers were suspended, 16 of them because of suspected sexual violence.
The mayor announced an action plan worth 20 million euros, which includes rapid and transparent reporting of suspected cases, the involvement and support of parents and structural improvements. “We have to rethink everything from the ground up, with one goal in mind: zero tolerance,” said the new socialist mayor. (hkl/sda/dpa)