Overview
- A judge placed the 40-year-old under formal investigation for acquiring and possessing a pornographic image of a minor and designated him an assisted witness in a separate alleged rape-of-a-minor inquiry.
- He remains free under judicial supervision with a ban from Libourne, a requirement for treatment, a prohibition on activities involving minors, and restrictions on the online accounts linked to the case.
- Investigators say he used gay dating platforms where he sought illicit images and discussed rapes of minors, which he told police were fantasies that the investigation must verify.
- During custody he acknowledged receiving a single image, according to information reported by the prosecutor and sources close to the inquiry.
- The Bordeaux archbishop reported concerns in mid-December and imposed precautionary measures, and authorities say no complaint has been filed to the diocese as the priest remains presumed innocent.