Six complaints of sexual assault have been filed against a 400-meter hurdles runner at the club EA Cergy – Pontoise Athletisme, according to L’Equipe. These complaints would have been filed after June 18, which was the date of the Tarare meeting in Rhone. According to the article, K.N, as he is called in the article, offered two of his colleagues pills as food to improve their sleep.
K.N would have tried to climb into the bed of one his teammates, who hadn’t taken the pill, during the night. K.N said that he was terrified and wouldn’t have moved. K.N would have then climbed into the bed of another comrade, who had also ingested the drug well, but only remembers waking up on one “difficult night” in which he saw his attacker “in a sort of nightmare”. This story would have been a challenge for a third club athlete who had experienced something similar earlier in the season.
They contacted their coach and club president on Monday. The EACPA then reached out to the Val-d’Oise departmental directorate for youth and sports, as well the French Athletics Federation. The president and three athletes filed a complaint at Cergy-Pontoise’s police station on June 21. A fourth athlete had gone there the day before. Two other potential victims filed a complaint after an exchange with club licensees.
K.N was taken into pre-trial custody for sexual assault and the administration of a drug to a victim. He did not know that he could alter his judgement or control his actions. K.N was also placed in pre-trial detention by his club. He could not take part in the French Elite Championships at Caen, where the 40 top Frenchmen meet, between June 24th and 26.
“It is not impossible that his sporting success could’ve aroused, or at least some jealousy from other athletes, and that he was subject to a cabal”, said his lawyer, still with L’Equipe. He also stated that the echo of his case might have led athletes from other clubs to file complaints.
