Families alleging that their children were abused during after-school care in Paris have filed a complaint against current and former city officials, accusing them of failing to act despite warnings about problems in the system, Modern Ghana reports.
The complaint, filed with the Paris prosecutor's office on September 4 by families brought together by the MeTooEcole association, targets former mayor Anne Hidalgo, who served from 2014 to 2026, current Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire and Patrick Bloche, who was responsible for school affairs and served as Hidalgo's deputy until 2026.
The families are asking prosecutors to investigate what city officials knew about alleged abuse and whether they failed to take measures to protect children.
The complaint alleges offences including deliberately putting others at risk, failing to assist a person in danger and failing to report offences against children, some of whom were aged between two and four.
The families say city officials had received reports and warnings about problems in after-school care but failed to take measures including suspending staff, informing families and referring cases to the justice system.
They accuse officials of being aware of the "systemic nature of the danger", particularly from spring 2025, when the first cases emerged.
The families said 20 after-school staff were suspended by the city over sexual allegations in 2025 and 52 more since the start of 2026, arguing this demonstrated that senior municipal officials knew about the scale and recurrence of the problem.
"Beyond each of these cases, these facts reveal the systemic silence that has taken hold within the City of Paris," said Barka Zerouali, a spokesperson for MeTooEcole.
Hidalgo and Bloche were already named in three complaints filed in late August by families from the Saint-Dominique school in Paris' 7th district.
Hidalgo's lawyer, Patrick Klugman, rejected the allegations.
"There was never any failure, weakness or inaction on the part of Anne Hidalgo. Who could imagine the mayor of Paris wanting to protect sexual predators?" he said.
About 20 politicians, including former minister and right-wing 7th district mayor Rachida Dati, have also reported the matter to prosecutors.
Hidalgo, Bloche and Grégoire are due to appear before a French Senate inquiry into violence in after-school care nationwide in mid-September.
Grégoire, who served as one of Hidalgo's deputies for 10 years, became mayor in March 2026. He has launched a 20 million euro ($23.4 million) plan to tackle sexual violence in after-school care, describing the issue as an "absolute priority".
He has also said he was sexually abused while at primary school when he was around nine or 10 years old.
Since the start of 2026, 132 after-school staff have been suspended by the City of Paris, including 52 over suspected sexual or gender-based violence.
More than 200 criminal investigations are also underway in primary schools and nurseries across the capital, covering both school and after-school settings.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
