The National Judicial Police Association has accused French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin of hypocrisy and betrayal following reports of major failures in sexual violence investigations involving minors. In a statement released on Sunday, August 9, the group stated that Darmanin was torpedoing his own record after serving as interior minister at Place Beauvau for more than four years.
The criticism followed details from a July 29 memo, revealed by the newspaper Le Monde and consulted by AFP, which summarized reports from general prosecution offices to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. The document detailed ghost files, abandoned or lost investigations, and a lack of staff and training. Handling sexual violence against minors became a top priority for the Justice Ministry following public outrage over the Lyhanna case.
The association, which represents judicial police officers investigating high-level offenses like organized and financial crime, said the warnings in the memo were justified. The group, which opposes the 2024 police reform, described Darmanin as a Doctor Darmanin and Mister Gerald figure who was listing shortcomings in a ministry he headed longer than anyone in 50 years.
Backlog of cases
The group agreed that the justice minister rightly denounced the shortage of investigators in specialized units and the backlog of pending cases. However, the association noted that Darmanin already knew about an evaluation report showing over three million untreated files, which warned about unhandled sexual assault and rape cases involving minors.
Darmanin defended his record on Sunday by publishing a three-page letter on X sent to Nunez and Minister of Health and Families Stephanie Rist to prevent fake news. He stated that under the authority of the president of the republic, no official had created more than 8,000 police and gendarme positions, delivered more resources, or focused more on protecting minors than he did at the Interior Ministry two years ago. Since Darmanin ordered a re-examination of complaints after the Lyhanna case, 924 people have been incarcerated in pedocriminality cases.
