French former teacher charged with abusing 89 teens dating back to 1960s

An elderly French man has been charged with the rape and sexual assault of 89 teenagers in a mass abuse case that police allege spans many countries and dates back to the 1960s.

Jacques Leveugle, 79, who is in custody in south-east France, was arrested after his nephew found a USB that allegedly detailed his "sexual relations" with minors aged 13 to 17, the Grenoble prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux, told a news conference.

In an unusual move, authorities are naming the suspect because out of the 89 assaults, Manteaux said that only around 40 victims had been identified.

"If victims wish to come forward, now is the time," he added.

Police allege the crimes took place between 1967 and 2022.

Throughout much of his life, Leveugle worked as an informal teacher or assistant at holiday camps, the prosecutor said.

A timeline released of Leveugle's whereabouts dating back to the 1960s shows his appearance throughout the decades.

Police allege that he could have carried out assaults not only in France, but also Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, Niger, Algeria, the Philippines, India, Colombia, and the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.

"He travelled to these different countries and in each of these places where he settled to provide tutoring and teach, he would meet young people and have sexual relations with them," Manteaux told the news conference on Tuesday.

Leveugle was arrested in 2024 after visiting his brother in the Isère department around Grenoble, a city in south-eastern France. At the time, Leveugle was living in Morocco.

His brother's son - who had suspicions about his uncle - took advantage of his absence one day in October 2023 to examine a USB drive that belonged to Leveugle. It allegedly contained "15 tomes of very dense material" - photographs and written accounts of his "sexual relations" with minors, Manteaux said.

"The victims we have spoken to tell us that he spent a lot of time helping them to learn foreign languages, awakening their sense of culture... He has a complex personality," the prosecutor said.

"A lot of work has been done to identify all the victims. But in his journal, some only have first names, and there we found ourselves up against a wall. That's why we decided to launch this appeal - and also in case there are other victims not listed in his journal," Manteaux added.

The prosecutor revealed that under questioning, Leveugle also allegedly admitted to killing his own mother and aunt by smothering them with cushions.

He is accused of killing his mother in 1974 when she was in the terminal phase of cancer, and he allegedly did the same to his 92-year-old aunt in 1992.

"He explained to us that he told (his aunt) he had to leave for the Cévennes. She was pleading with him not to go, so he took the decision to kill her too," the prosecutor said.

"He justifies the killings by saying he hoped someone would do the same to him if he was in the same situation at the end of his life."

A separate judicial investigation has been opened into these alleged killings.

Under French law, alleged assaults that took place before 1993 come under the country's statute of limitations, so no prosecutions for them would be possible. However Manteaux said it was still important to get a full picture of Leveugle's alleged crimes.

In two other recent and high-profile sexual assault cases in France, offenders kept records of their activities which were later key in bringing them to justice.

In the Pélicot rape case, Dominique Pélicot kept videos of men assaulting his sleeping wife Gisèle, whom he had drugged. He was jailed for 20 years.

In Brittany, former doctor Joêl Le Scouarnec compiled detailed computer records of the hundreds of children he molested in hospital. Without this evidence, he may never have been convicted. He, too, was jailed for 20 years.