French prosecutor searches for victims after a man is accused of abusing 89 minors over 55 years

A French prosecutor has publicly identified a 79-year-old man accused of raping and sexually assaulting 89 minors across multiple countries over more than five decades. The unusual step of naming the suspect aims to encourage additional victims to come forward in what authorities describe as an exceptionally widespread case.

Grenoble prosecutor Étienne Manteaux revealed that the suspect, Jacques Leveugle, was placed under formal investigation in February 2024 for aggravated rape and sexual assault of minors and has been held in pretrial detention since April 2025. Leveugle reportedly worked in various roles that gave him access to children, including as a teacher, private tutor, and cave exploring guide.

The investigation centers on a digital “memoir” discovered on a USB drive by one of Leveugle’s relatives who subsequently turned it over to authorities. According to prosecutors, these documents, described as spanning 15 volumes, enabled investigators to identify 89 alleged victims—all boys between the ages of 13 and 17—with incidents dating from 1967 to 2022.

“This name must be known because the goal is to allow possible victims to come forward,” Manteaux stated during a news conference, explaining the unusual decision to identify a suspect before trial, which typically goes against French legal norms.

The alleged crimes span an extraordinary geographic range. Manteaux said Leveugle’s writings describe sexual acts with minors in Switzerland, Germany, Morocco, Algeria, Niger, the Philippines, India, and the French territory of New Caledonia.

Investigators have established that Leveugle spent significant time in North Africa. He lived in Algeria from 1967-1969 and 1971-1975, working as a teacher where he allegedly abused at least two children. He later spent many years in Morocco as a tutor for low-income families, where authorities suspect he abused at least 10 victims during stays spanning from 1974 to 2024. Leveugle was living in Morocco when he was arrested during a return trip to France.

French authorities have established a dedicated hotline and released photographs of Leveugle from various decades to assist potential victims in coming forward. The prosecutor explained that investigators initially hoped to identify all victims without making a public appeal but found the task impossible due to incomplete information in the suspect’s writings.

“We thought we would be able, internally, to identify all the victims,” Manteaux said, but “we realized we were up against a wall.”

In a disturbing parallel development, Manteaux revealed that Leveugle has also acknowledged killing two elderly relatives—his mother, who was terminally ill with cancer, and his 92-year-old aunt. Regarding the latter, the prosecutor said the suspect told investigators that “because he had to return to the Cévennes (region of France) and she begged him not to leave, he also chose to put her to death.”

The case emerges as France continues to process the impact of the Gisèle Pelicot trial, another shocking sexual violence case that recently captured national attention. In that case, a husband was convicted of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over several years. Investigators note that both cases were broken open through digital evidence—video recordings in the Pelicot case and the USB drive in the current investigation.

The prosecutor emphasized the urgency of the investigation, citing both Leveugle’s advanced age and the challenges of tracing victims across such an extensive timespan. “There is urgency,” Manteaux stated on RTL radio, highlighting the difficulty of identifying victims over a 55-year period.

As the investigation continues, authorities are encouraging anyone with information or who believes they may have been a victim to contact the dedicated hotline established for this case.