At 83, he is overtaken by justice. While the writer Gabriel Matzneff has never hidden his attraction and his relationships with young people under the age of 16, especially in his books, an investigation into rape of a minor under the age of 15 has now been opened by the public prosecutor's office in Paris this Friday.
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A decision taken the day after the release of the testimonial book Le Consentement by Vanessa Springora in which she recounts her relationship with the illustrious writer, when she was 14, and he was 50. "At 14, you are not supposed to be expected by a 50-year-old man on leaving college, we are not supposed to live in a hotel with him, nor find ourselves in his bed, his penis in his mouth at snack time", says in particular the author in the book.
Vanessa Springora indicated that she did not plan to file a complaint, the Paris prosecutor's office for its part decided to take up the case on its own within the framework of an "initiated investigation, for facts however prescribed.
In its press release, the Paris prosecutor's office specifies that the investigation was opened on the charges of "rape committed on the person of a 15-year-old minor to the detriment, in particular, of Vanessa Springora." In her book, the latter indeed recounts sexual relations and a relationship “under the influence” with the writer when she was a minor.
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However, for Master Jean Boudot, a criminal lawyer contacted by L'Express, the facts would be more of a sexual attack, different from rape. For him, rape is characterized by threat, surprise, coercion or violence. Here, it "is a matter of an influence by the aura and not by a real authority. With regard to classic law, it is a question of a sexual attack", he explains. Sexual abuse is established when an adult individual has sexual intercourse with a person under 15 years of age.
Why is the prosecution opening an investigation for rape and not for sexual assault? According to him, there is a strong social and media context between the release of victims' speech with the MeToo movement, the new charges against Roman Polanski or the Adèle Haenel affair. In addition, Gabriel Matzneff has always assumed his behavior with minors without any prosecution having been initiated or the literary and media world being moved by it. If he was well heard by the minors' brigade in the 70s and 80s, as he says himself, he has never been worried until now. According to Me Jean Boudot, it is then a question, for the prosecution, of creating a "pendulum effect" to compensate for the absence of judicial response for decades.
If the announcement of the prosecution is not a surprise, it still raises the question of the prescription. The extension of the limitation period to 30 years after the majority of the victim for rape, and 10 years for sexual assault, does not apply in the case of Vanessa Springora. This law is not retroactive and only concerns facts that were not already prescribed at the time of application of the text in August 2018.
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The opening of the investigation may nevertheless make it possible to find testimonies of other victims whose abuse would not be prescribed. In an interview with Le Parisien, Vanessa Springora also confides that she has received “shattering” testimonies from potential victims.
"The investigations, entrusted to the Central Office for the Suppression of Violence against Persons (OCRVP), will endeavor to identify any other possible victims who may have suffered similar offenses on national territory or abroad", explains so the release. It is then a way of fishing for witnesses, especially since "it is easier to speak once the investigation is open when you are a victim", underlines the criminal lawyer.
If it is a little early to plan for possible criminal responses to Gabriel Matzneff, this case risks, according to Jean Boudot, "to harm him more professionally and socially than criminally".
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However, if testimonies were added to Vanessa Springora's book and reported less ancient facts, Gabriel Matzneff could possibly incur a prison sentence. "The risks of incarceration are not necessarily high, but they are real", especially if recent facts are discovered, according to Jean Boudot.
There remains the question of age. “Do we send an 80-year-old man to prison for facts that date back 30 years?” Asks the lawyer, according to whom this question should surely be decided during the trial of Father Preynat, judged , over 74, for "sexual assault on a minor" from January 13.
