“They made her believe she was possessed”: he performs exorcism with use of force and asks for help from a teenager

“Les faits sont troublants, inhabituels”, concède Me Nicolas Ciucci-Guilland, avocat de la victime. Midi Libre – Laura Vaillant

Tried by the Millau Criminal Court this Thursday, December 19, a 41-year-old man was found guilty of violence committed in a group during an exorcism in Saint-Affrique.

“We have some special facts”, the president Geneviève Brian-Barranguet is surprised at the Millau court. On May 11, a 41-year-old man and a young girl allegedly used violence to perform an exorcism on a friend who was putting them up.

While the three protagonists were living under the same roof in Saint-Affrique, an evening apparently went wrong. “The victim explained during her hearing that the two people she was staying with made her believe that she was possessed, and that an exorcism session had to be carried out,” the president explained. “She said that she was laid on the bed, held by the arms and that a crucifix was placed on her forehead.” On May 17, the victim threw out her exorcist. She went to the police station a few days later to file a complaint with photographs of the bruises on her arms.

“Whether you believe in exorcism is up to you. But understand that this session was imposed, sir, no?, exhorts the president.

– She wasn't herself, replies the accused.

– So that justifies her being held by force?, relaunches the magistrate.

– She was no longer herself.”

According to the victim, the use of force was the cause of the bruises on her arms.

Inconsistencies in the case file ?

According to the minor, tried in July by the juvenile court for the same facts, the bruises were present when the exorcism began. This was confirmed by the defendant during his hearing on Wednesday, December 19.

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He added that they came from a romantic relationship that the victim had with a man. For the plaintiff's counsel, Mr. Nicolas Ciucci-Guilland, this argument does not hold water. “She had no one in her life, and for a very long time”, he argues before recalling the remarks made by the defendant during his hearing, concerning these marks.“It was when she was held during the exorcism.”

On the side of the lawyer of the forty-year-old, Me Lolita Rispal, there were shortcomings during this hearing. The investigators did not reveal the photos of the hematomas to her client when the subject was raised. To the question “is it possible that you are responsible for bruises on the arms ?”, he then allegedly answered, without knowing the extent of the marks in question: “yes, it is possible”. Arguing for acquittal, the defendant's counsel points out the inconsistency of the case, particularly with regard to the photographs showing undated hematomas.

Special personalities

As for the protagonists' speeches, here again there are many inconsistencies. Ms. Lolita Rispal relies on the words of the complainant who, during her hearing, indicated: “Her grandfather took possession of my body”, in reference to the teenager's grandfather. Enough, for the lawyer, to highlight the mystical beliefs shared by the Saint-Affricaine and her two friends. During her judgment, the young girl testified to this effect. “She was the one who asked us to read her passages from the Koran because she didn't feel like herself.”

During her indictment, prosecutor Esther Paillette returned to the personality of the accused. “He was in a relationship with a 14-year-old minor when he was barely forty years old”, she began, recalling that he and the young girl had been a couple. For this, the older of the two had been convicted of abducting a minor.

But the teenager, behind her mother's back, had resumed contact with her “ex-boyfriend”. It was at the complainant's house that they met again. At her home, they also consumed cocaine purchased with money requested from their landlady. “He is not as white as snow, he imposed himself on my client's home, pretending there was an electrical problem at his place, indicates Me Nicolas Ciucci-Guilland before supporting his statement. The violence is there, and the defendant says it himself: ''we held her''. My client is weak and has few resources.”

After deliberation, the court found the forty-year-old guilty of the facts he is accused of. He was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probationary sentence. He is also prohibited from having contact with the victim and is required to seek treatment. As for damages, the case is referred to civil interests in February 2025 for a joint and several conviction.

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