An activist affiliated with the far-left La France Insoumise party in Nantes has been indicted on charges of rape and torture of a disabled 4-year-old girl.
The 32-year-old former LFI member, Pierre-Alain Cottineau, was placed in pre-trial detention last week after admitting to the allegations during police custody.
Cottineau admitted to the rape during police questioning, also revealing that he has “pedophile inclinations.” He is facing charges of “rape with acts of torture or barbarism” and “sexual assault on a minor under 15 by a person in authority,” as well as the possession and distribution of child pornography.
As reported by Le Figaro, investigators discovered that he had filmed the assaults and shared the videos online through encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram. Dutch investigators initially flagged the content, which led French authorities to take action.
The evidence was transmitted to the French Minors Office on Sept. 11, leading to Cottineau’s arrest.
The victim, a young girl suffering from a significant disability, is currently receiving specialist care at Nantes University Hospital.
The local LFI party in Nantes has sought to distance itself from Cottineau, who stood as a candidate for the party as recently as 2021 in the departmental elections in the Ancenis-Saint-Géréon canton.
He portrayed himself as an advocate for LGBT+ rights and a caregiver, having been approved by the Loire-Atlantique department to work as a family assistant with access to vulnerable children.
Cottineau had been president of Esprit Arc-en-Ciel, a pro-LGBT association founded in 2017 with which he organized the first Pride march in the locality in 2022.
Manuel Bompard, the national coordinator of La France Insoumise, announced Cottineau’s immediate expulsion from the movement on Wednesday. “We discovered this with horror. This person has been excluded from La France Insoumise,” Bompard told AFP.
The process of removing Cottineau’s relationship with LFI from public life has already begun with several social media accounts linked to the suspect having been deleted.
“We are deeply saddened and shocked,” said Andy Kerbrat, an LFI MP from Nantes. “We support the victims and are all the more affected as child protection is a priority of our movement.”
“I feel a deep disgust because this horror affects me most deeply,” he added.
The investigation into Cottineau’s heinous crimes is being led by an investigating judge from Nantes in collaboration with the French agency responsible for fighting child abuse.
He faces life imprisonment.
