“We are going crazy”: Fabrice Burgaud, judge in the Outreau case, looks back on his errors in this legal fiasco

In a Netflix documentary series, Fabrice Burgaud, judge in the Outreau case, looks back on his errors in the legal fiasco, for the first time in nearly 20 years.

It all started in December 2000 when reports from social services indicated strange behavior among the children of the couple formed by the couple. by Thierry Delay and Myriam Delay Badaoui. The children were then taken into custody. withdrawn and a judicial investigation had been carried out. opened. The family's sordid daily life then exploded. out in broad daylight: sexual abuse, physical and psychological violence… The couple was finally moved on to violence. to the confessions but Myriam Delay Badaoui accusedé other adults of similar facts, thus suggesting & a real pedophile network in Hauts-de-France. 

Judged in 2004, when one of the accused had put an end to the crime. Shortly before her days in prison, Myriam Delay and another accused confessed to the rapes and exonerated several of their co-workers. accused. Seven people were arrested. acquitted. The process has been sent to the Court. on appeal in 2005 and this time two children recanted and Myriam Badaoui once again admitted to having lied. Six additional people were then acquitted. The Outreau affair is seen as a huge legal fiasco in view of the 13 people accused of it. wrong and having been imprisoned for three years. In 2006, the latter, during a parliamentary inquiry commission, pointed out that pointed out Judge Fabrice Burgaud who was in charge of the case. It was thus given to him. reproached to have ledé an instruction à charge, in quasi "partnership" with Myriam Badaoui. He then defended himself by recalling that he was not cropped nor even warned by his hierarchy in this matter.

The judge comes out of silence 20 years later

The latter has just come out of silence almost 20 years later, in a Netflix documentary series, signed Marika Mathieu, Camille Le Pomellec, Anna Kwak and Oron Adar and entitled Outreau, a French nightmare. In an excerpt, the journalist asks him if he still had questions about the case, the magistrate then responds with a certain coldness: &quot ;Fortunately there are defense mechanisms otherwise we go crazy. If I have to have a thought, it's for the victims, that' 39;we have completely denied it. Although he speaks well of the victims, he has no words of apology for the accused. ; wrong, nor any real expression of regret. A similar observation had been made; made in 2006.

The judge simply écopé a "reprimand with entry in the file" in 2009 by the Superior Council of the Judiciary. This is the lowest possible sanction. In 2017, he was even named promoted to senior general counsel the Court of Cassation.