Corruption of minors: J.-M. Morandini sentenced to one year in prison with 2 years probation

Host Jean-Marc Morandini was sentenced on Monday, December 5 by the Paris Criminal Court to one year in prison with a probationary period of two years for "corruption of minors" concerning three teenagers between 2009 and 2016, during electronic exchanges and a casting at his home.

"Despite the time that has elapsed, no questioning had been initiated" by Jean-Marc Morandini on these "transgressive acts," the president said, stressing nevertheless that "it does not appear from the file or from the debates, whether Mr. Morandini can be described as a predator or a pedophile." "This judgment is incomprehensible and quite severe, and we intend to appeal this decision," reacted the defendant's lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt.

The prosecution had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence against the CNews host during the trial in late October. The court added a two-year probation as well as registration in the file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses (Fijais). "I am delighted that Mr. Morandini, who disputed the facts and was in denial, was found guilty by a reasoned judgment," reacted Francis Szpiner, lawyer for a victim and the association La Voix de l’enfant, saying he was relieved that the court had asked for a registration in the sex offender file.

The host, absent during the judgment, responded to messages sent to two 15-year-olds, in 2013 and 2015-2016, which consisted for one of evoking sexual scenarios and, for the second, of asking her to send a photo of herself, naked. Jean-Marc Morandini, 57, who worked for Europe 1 in particular, was also on trial for having asked a third 16-year-old teenager to strip naked and masturbate at his home in 2009 during an audition for a remake project of an American film, which never saw the light of day. During his trial in October, he admitted "recklessness" but defended himself by invoking a form of "humor." His lawyers pleaded for release, castigating a file built on "very fluctuating statements" and parasitized by a supposed "media lynching."

The Cnews channel, where the host presents his daily program Morandini Live, indicated in a press release that he is kept on the air: “Jean-Marc Morandini has appealed. The presumption of innocence applies. Jean-Marc Morandini continues to present his show on Cnews."