A father has admitted to beating a 70-year-old man after allegedly witnessing him sexually assault his five-year-old son in a park in Toulouse.
According to La Dépêche du Midi, emergency services were called to Parc de la Violette in the north of the city on Wednesday evening after the elderly man was found lying semi-conscious with severe swelling to his face.
When police arrived, another man approached officers and admitted that he had assaulted him.
According to witnesses, the violence erupted after the 70-year-old allegedly grabbed a boy aged around five and placed his hands on the child’s genitals over his shorts.
The incident was witnessed by the boy’s father and several other people in the park. The father then allegedly repeatedly punched the man in the face.
Firefighters treated the injured man at the scene before taking him by ambulance to the emergency department at Purpan Hospital. The suspect, who reportedly does not speak French, has remained in hospital following the attack.
The boy’s father subsequently told police that he wanted to file a complaint over the alleged sexual assault.
Witnesses interviewed at the scene claimed that the elderly man had previously behaved inappropriately towards other children visiting the park.
The Toulouse public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
Police are expected to question the man over the alleged sexual assault once he has received treatment and been discharged from hospital.
