Overview
- The tribunal correctionnel de Paris acquitted David G. of sexual‑assault charges on July 7, 2026, citing insufficient material evidence and granting him the benefit of the doubt while convicting him for sexual harassment of two colleagues.
- Judges cited variations in testimony, psychological reports that said initial accounts may have been shaped by parental questioning, and a lack of adult witnesses or clear physical evidence when explaining the acquittal.
- The court ordered an eight‑month suspended sentence for harassment, mandatory care and damages to victims, and registered David G. in FIJAIS, the sexual‑offender file that bars him from working as an animator.
- Families and advocacy groups reacted with shock and anger in court, saying the decision discounted very young children’s statements and deepened distrust in child‑protection procedures; Paris has seen more than 100 animator suspensions this year and a fall in leisure‑centre attendance.
- Municipal reforms and a transpartisan mission of inquiry are under way, and the public prosecutor has already appealed an earlier acquittal in the scandal, signaling further legal challenges and policy reviews to come.