Sexual Abuse of Children in France Leads to the Outreau Affair.

The discovery and investigation of a suspected pedophile and sex-abuse ring by authorities in Outreau, France, in December, 2000, filled the French public with horror and rage over allegations of the sexual abuse of children. Public condemnation soon shifted from the accused to the French justice system itself, in which many of the defendants were imprisoned for long stretches of time and tried based on little evidence and admittedly false accusations. The child sex-abuse scandal and the reported injustices that occurred during the investigation and trial came to be known as the Outreau affair and brought France’s long-standing judicial system under scrutiny.