FRANCE: The rapist of two young teenage girls was not a Jehovah’s Witness (Fact-checking)
About the decision by a French television channel to stigmatize Jehovah’s Witnesses
HRWF (27.04.2026) – In a case involving the rape of two teenage girls, tried in the Finistère Assize Court, the television channel France 3 surprisingly headlined its news report on 24 April with the headline, “A man from the Jehovah’s Witness community traveled 1,000 km to rape two teenage girls in Quimper.” It was not true that the sexual abuser was a Jehovah’s Witness. France 3 itself mentions that the perpetrator had been expelled from the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ community after being sentenced twice to lengthy prison terms for other cases of sexual assault. It is unusual to mention the religious affiliation of a perpetrator, and one can question the reason and motivation behind such a choice by France 3. Such a headline is sensational and easily attracts potential readers but it reinforces the stigmatization of an entire religious community, hostility, hate speech and hate crimes. What about the mentioning of the religious affiliation of a Jewish or Muslim perpetrator tomorrow? Quote translated from France 3 news contradicting its own title:
During searches of the suspected rapist’s home, investigators found a hard drive. In a letter, the man requested “his reinstatement” to the Jehovah’s Witnesses community after being expelled for his behavior with minors. (…) The investigating chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeal ordered the exceptional extension of the suspected perpetrator’s pretrial detention on Friday, April 24, 2026. (…)
His criminal record does not work in his favor: in 2007, he was sentenced to six years in prison by the Nancy Criminal Court (Meurthe-et-Moselle) for sexual violence against minors. In 2015, he was sentenced by the Metz (Moselle) criminal court to seven years in prison for having been in contact with “about fifteen teenage girls” from the Grand Est region between May 2010 and October 2012, just after his release from prison.
Unfortunately, the same stigmatization was repeated by other French media outlets failing to check the information.
Photo:Jehovah’s Witnesses evangelizing in France. Source: JW.org.
