In Lyon, a septuagenarian sued for defamation of his fifty-year-old sons accusing him of incest on Facebook
This Tuesday 16 2021, the Lyon court examined the case of two fifty-year-old brothers, prosecuted in November for “defamation” by their father. Last January, the two brothers denounced on Facebook for alleged incestuous sexual assault during childhood.
“I totally refute these facts because they were not possible”, declared at the bar the injured, 77 years old, a former notable of the region of ChambĂ©ry, at the criminal court of Lyon. “I can’t stand when all of this is public and my parents’ names get dirty.”, he added. The latter is suing his two sons, aged 50 and 52, for “defamation” and calls for their conviction.
On January 22, 2021, the youngest son had a published text of the hashtag on his Facebook account #mettooincest, by affirming that he had been the victim of incestuous acts on behalf of his father in the Eighties. He explained that he had been able to free himself thanks to the book of Camille Kouchner, “La familia grande”, dealing in his family of suspected sexual assault by a loved one.
The older brother had then posted a comment, accompanied by the same hashtag, writing: “this is my brother”, followed by a heart, then: “this is my father” with the emoticon of the devil’s head.
“Should media justice, Internet justice, decide its fate?” questioned at the hearing the lawyer of the injuries, Thomas Fourrey, accusing the children of having used the social networks “to settle accounts in the face of the world”. “For forty years he has carried this burden (…) He needed to lift a taboo”, retorted the defense of the younger son.
The latter, after the initiation of the defamation procedure, had filed a complaint for sexual assault, but the case had been dismissed due to the limitation period. In his hearing, he had detailed the alleged touching he had suffered in the parental bed, and the long therapies he had followed to get out of his discomfort. His older brother had for his part attested to the influence of the father in a conflicting family context.
The public prosecutor, Alain Grellet, suggested to the court to be indulgent towards children “suffering”. “Good faith must be applied with more tolerance for individuals, compared to press professionals”, said the magistrate, paving the way for an acquittal.
The judgment was reserved. The two brothers will be fixed on their fate on January 18.