French prosecutors on Tuesday appealed for witnesses after a former teacher was charged with the aggravated rape and sexual assault of 89 minors over more than five decades across multiple countries, in what authorities described as an unusually extensive abuse case.
Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux said the suspect, Jacques Leveugle, a 79-year-old former educator born in 1946 in the Alpine town of Annecy, was placed under formal investigation in 2024 and has been held in custody since then. In a rare move under French law, prosecutors publicly named the suspect to encourage additional victims to come forward.
