Paris families sue mayor over alleged child abuse in after-school care

The families, brought together by the MeTooEcole association, are calling on prosecutors to examine what city officials knew about problems in the after-school system and whether they failed to take action to address them.

The complaint, filed with the Paris prosecutor's office on Friday, targets several people – including former mayor Hidalgo, who served from 2014 to 2026, and Grégoire, who took over as mayor in March 2026.

Patrick Bloche, who was responsible for school affairs at Paris city hall and served as Hidalgo's deputy until 2026, is also named in the complaint.

Other legal proceedings are already underway against after-school staff suspected of child abuse. But this complaint specifically targets the city and its officials as those ultimately responsible for organising and running after-school care in primary schools.

Alleged failures

The complaint alleges criminal offences including deliberately putting others at risk, failing to assist a person in danger and failing to report offences against children, some of whom were aged between two and four.

The families say the City of Paris and officials in its school affairs department had been made aware of problems through reports from families, some of which remained internal, as well as "documented warnings going back a long time".

They say authorities failed to take the necessary measures, including suspending staff involved, informing families and referring cases to the justice system.

The families accuse city officials of knowing about "the systemic nature of the danger", particularly from spring 2025, when the first cases emerged.

The families say the number of after-school staff suspended by the city over sexual allegations – 20 in 2025 and 52 since the start of 2026 – "shows that the highest levels of the municipal executive knew about the scale and recurrence of the problem".

They also claim city officials could not "ignore the reality and seriousness of the risk" and should have introduced "protective measures without delay".

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'Systemic silence'

"Beyond each of these cases, these facts reveal the systemic silence that has taken hold within the City of Paris," said Barka Zerouali, a spokesperson for MeTooEcole.

Hidalgo and Bloche are already directly named in three complaints filed in late August by families from Saint-Dominique school in the city's 7th district.

"There was never any failure, weakness or inaction on the part of Anne Hidalgo. Who could imagine the mayor of Paris wanting to protect sexual predators?" her lawyer Patrick Klugman said.

About 20 politicians, including former minister and right-wing mayor of the 7th district Rachida Dati, as well as the group co-chaired by MP Sophia Chikirou of the hard-left France Unbowed party, have also reported the matter to prosecutors.

Hidalgo, Bloche and Grégoire are also due to appear before a French Senate inquiry into violence in after-school care nationwide in mid-September.

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Grégoire, who had been one of Hidalgo's deputies for 10 years, left Paris city hall in summer 2024 to become an MP.

On Tuesday, the Paris mayor is set to appear before a cross-party information and evaluation committee on the issue.

Grégoire has launched a €20 million plan to tackle sexual violence in after-school care, which he has described as an "absolute priority" at the start of his term.

He also revealed he was a victim of sexual abuse while in primary school, aged around nine or 10. 

Since the start of 2026, 132 after-school staff have been suspended by the City of Paris, including 52 over suspected sexual or gender-based violence.

More than 200 criminal investigations are also underway in primary schools and nurseries across the capital, covering both school and after-school settings.

(with newswires)