PPDA: 3 new women have come forward

Three new women came forward to justice and the investigations as part of the preliminary investigation for rape and sexual assault targeting Patrick Poivre d'Arvor which were relaunched on Wednesday April 19, said the Nanterre prosecution. They will soon be heard by the investigators. Contacted, the lawyer for the former star presenter of TF1 could not be reached at this stage.

Since the start of this investigation, opened in December 2021, 19 women have been heard, 10 of whom have filed a complaint, according to the count of the prosecution.

These new elements come at a time when, after three hearings with Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, who strongly disputes the numerous accusations, the investigation was now coming to an end and the prosecution was soon to decide on the follow-up to be given to the investigations (Satellifacts, 8 March).

As a reminder, in addition to this procedure, PPDA has been the subject of another preliminary investigation, closed, and is still the subject of a judicial investigation in Nanterre. For his part, he filed a complaint for slanderous denunciation against a dozen complainants. The first preliminary investigation targeting him was opened in February 2021, after the complaint by the author Florence Porcel. Twenty-two other women then testified to rape, sexual assault and/or sexual harassment. In June 2021, the investigations had been closed without further action, mainly because the facts denounced were prescribed. Florence Porcel then filed a complaint again, this time with a civil action, to obtain the opening of a new investigation entrusted to the investigating judges. This judicial investigation is still in progress, in Nanterre, and was the subject of a rare decision by the investigating chamber of the Versailles Court of Appeal (Yvelines).

At the end of June, the Court of Appeal extended the scope of these investigations to the facts appearing to be prescribed, recalling that the abandonment of the proceedings was not inevitable and that the starting point of the period during which the justice system can investigate could, in some cases, be postponed. This is particularly the case if the investigators determine that the incriminating facts have repeated themselves and constitute a series.