The method used by the police raises questions. A 14-year-old schoolboy suspected of harassing a 15-year-old transgender high school student was arrested on Tuesday September 19 during class at his establishment in Alfortville, in Val-de-Marne. The teenager was then taken into police custody and brought before a magistrate, the prosecution and the academy told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I understand that this can raise questions but we need both authority and serenity,” reacted the Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, on Wednesday. He spoke of messages sent by the schoolboy of “absolute violence”, with “threats of slitting, incitements to suicide”, which justified a “rapid reaction”.
At the end of the council of ministers, the government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, also stressed that the arrest had been made “in accordance with the agreement of the prosecution and the educational team”. He admitted to wanting to send “very strong messages” to harassers: “This is how we will cope with the scourge of harassment, this is how we will also protect our children. » “Basically, how many times in recent months have we had to cry, following the tragic death of a child who killed himself because he was being bullied? “, he noted.
In a press release, the rectorate of the Créteil academy announced in the morning “to discuss with the authorities concerned” to “understand under what conditions police officers may have been required to intervene in a school establishment to carry out the arrest of a student in class.”
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The affair began when the parents of a 15-year-old high school student managed to be received Monday morning by the principal of the Maximilien-Perret high school in Alfortville, where she is enrolled in the 2nd grade, the rectorate reported. The student’s father then filed a complaint with the city police station, claiming that his daughter had been targeted by homophobic messages and death threats on Instagram, the prosecution added.
Thanks to the use of screenshots, the police identified the author of these messages, a student from Henri-Barbusse college in Alfortville, and came to arrest him in class. An investigation into violence resulting in incapacity for work for less than eight days and death threats was opened Tuesday morning, added the prosecution, which specifies that the fact that these offenses were committed because of gender or sexual orientation of the victim was retained as an aggravating circumstance.
The Créteil academy told AFP that the victim, male in civil status, was in gender transition. Her family told the rectorate that she was a transgender girl. The arrested schoolboy, who admitted the facts and expressed regret, was brought before a magistrate late Tuesday afternoon. He was then notified by the public prosecutor of an educational measure, defined by the prosecution as “an activity for the benefit of the community” which must be carried out in the coming weeks.