Following a trial, a 29-year-old Palestinian has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on a bus in the French city of Toulouse. The girl, named Clara to protect her identity, openly sobbed in court while sitting next to her mother.
On June 18, the young girl was riding the L11 bus in the city when the Palestinian migrant, Ahmed, sat next to her. Ahmed spoke in court through a translator, claiming he thought he saw the teenager give “a sign” to him that she wanted to get to know him. Ahmed said he was attracted to Clara “at first sight.”
After Ahmed got on the bus, he went to sit next to the victim, at which point he began to rub her shoulders before he grabbed her transport card, which she had been holding between her legs, according to French news outlet La Depeche. He then grabbed her thighs before moving his hands to her chest. The Palestinian was then arrested after a criminal complaint.
In court, after recounting that he was attracted to Clara, he apologized for his sexual assault in criminal court, saying: “I thought carefully. I would like to apologize. I have trouble behaving around girls. That day, I was elsewhere, I behaved badly.”
“Do you realize that she is traumatized?” the judge responded.
Ahmed fled Gaza and arrived in France in March 2025. He said he has had a difficult existence in France living on the street and in squats. He also says he has been actively consuming cocaine and alcohol “to suffer less psychologically.”
He was then given taxpayer-funded social support and offered accommodations in Cugnaux.
Ahmed told the court that he experienced war and violence during his childhood and adolescence.
The court found Ahmed guilty and sentenced him to six months in prison with continued detention. He is also being banned from French territory for two years and is no longer allowed to participate in any activity involving minors. He will also be a registered sex offender.
A civil case may also rule on further damages related to the 15-year-old girl he targeted.
This is far from the only incident in Toulouse. Last year, Remix News reported on a 54-year-old Senegalese migrant who committed serial sexual assaults on the city’s bus lines over the course of three years, with the man targeting multiple women at different times.
In 2025, Remix News reported that sexual assaults on French public transport had risen 86 percent over the preceding ten years.
