- Jacques Leveugle, 79, accused of abusing 89 minors across nine countries since 1967
- He worked as a teacher and speleology instructor, targeting youths aged 13 to 17
- Leveugle’s nephew found a USB with writings detailing sexual relations with minors
A French prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux, has made public the identity of a 79-year-old former educator accused of raping and sexually assaulting 89 minors over more than five decades. He has appealed to witnesses and victims to testify in the mass abuse case across nine countries, including India.
The suspect Jacques Leveugle, born in 1946 in Annecy, has been in custody since his indictment in 2024.
"This name must be known because the aim is to enable potential victims to come forward," the prosecutor told reporters. He said that prosecutors did not reveal his identity earlier, as they "wanted to first ensure the veracity of the facts".
French Prosecutor of Besancon Etienne Manteaux
Photo Credit: AFP
Sexual Crimes Against Minors
Leveugle has been accused of committing sexual crimes against minors aged 13 to 17 between 1967 and 2022.
The crimes against the minors were allegedly committed in Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, Niger, Algeria, the Philippines, India, Colombia, and the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, where he worked as a freelance teacher and instructor, Manteaux said.
His varied roles included instructor of speleology, or the science of caves, and French teacher.
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"He travelled to these different countries, and in each of these places where he settled to provide tutoring and teach, he would meet young people and have sexual relations with them," the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said that the victims that they have spoken to have told them that he spent a lot of time helping them learn foreign languages and "awakening their sense of culture". He added that the accused has a "complex personality".
The USB Drive About His "Sexual Relations" With Minors
Leveugle had a USB drive in which he compiled his writings about "sexual relations" with minors. The case came to life after the USB stick on which the documents were stored by the man was discovered by his nephew, who was "questioning his uncle's emotional and sexual life," Manteaux added.
In October, the nephew took advantage of his uncle's absence one day in October 2023 and found out about the documents.
He also said that the USB "contains 15 tomes of very dense material, and investigators will review and read all of these writings and identify 89 minors", according to France 24.
Manteaux said that investigators hoped that victims would be identified through the documents, but it often contained incomplete identities, which would make it difficult to locate victims after decades.
"We thought we would be able, internally, to identify all the victims," Manteaux said, but "we realised we were up against a wall", ABC News reported.
Confessed To Murder Of Mother And Aunt
However, the investigation turned darker when the man also confessed to suffocating his mother with a pillow, who was a terminally ill cancer patient. He also killed his 92-year-old aunt "while she was asleep" in the same manner.
About the aunt, Manteaux said that the accused told investigators that "because he had to return to the Cevennes and she begged him not to leave, he also chose to put her to death."
The accused justified his actions by saying that he would like someone to do the same to him if he ever found himself in that situation.
Authorities have set up a hotline to encourage people to come forward and contact them.
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