Probes ongoing into alleged abuse at 84 Paris preschools: prosecutor

Paris' newly elected Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire wears the tricolour mayoral sash after being nominated during the inaugural city council session at the city hall of Paris on Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Julien De Rosa, Pool Photo via AP)

Warning: Graphic content.

PARIS - Paris investigators are looking into allegations non-teaching staff recruited by the city mistreated or abused children at 84 kindergartens and around 20 primary schools, a prosecutor said Sunday.

Parents in the city have in recent months accused supervisors in charge of children outside the classroom -- such as during recess or before pick-up -- of mistreating, or physically or sexually abusing pupils in their care.

The French capital’s new mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, a Socialist who says he suffered sexual abuse himself during an after-school swimming programme in primary, has announced dozens of suspensions and pledged to stamp out such violence.

“We have investigations underway in 84 preschools, around 20 primary schools, and about 10 daycare centres,” the city’s top prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the RTL broadcaster.

Five people have been summoned to court, Beccuau added.

Paris in the first three months of 2026 suspended 78 aides, including 31 suspected of sexual abuse, Gregoire has said.

The mayor has vowed better vetting of people who apply to be recess monitors, and improved training for recruits, including on how to report suspected mistreatment.

Auxiliary staff have demanded better staffing to ensure an adult is never left alone with a child, as well as more recognition and higher pay.

A Paris court is next month to rule in the case of a 47-year-old school monitor accused of sexual assault on three girls and sexual harassment of nine others when they were aged 10 in 2024.

Prosecutors have called for the man, who was suspended in 2024, to be handed a 18-month suspended sentence, as well as being banned from working with children.

An estimated 160,000 children suffer rape or sexual assault each year in France, according to an independent commission called CIVIISE. The abuser is a family member in eight out of 10 cases.