According to Mediapart, two women, whose testimonies the newspaper collected, accuse Damien Abad of rape in 2010 and 2011. In an article published on Saturday evening, the newspaper reports a report for alleged acts of rape sent to LREM and LR and to the public prosecutor by the Observatory of sexist and sexual violence in politics.
This report took place before his appointment on Friday as Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities, according to Mediapart.
“I strongly contest these accusations of sexual violence. I deny having exercised any form of coercion whatsoever on any woman. Finally, I contest any abuse of power related to the functions I have held,” says Damien Abad, ex-president of the LR deputies appointed on Friday.
“The sexual relationships I have had throughout my life have always been mutually consensual,” he adds.
According to the testimonies collected by Mediapart, one of these two women, aged 41, denounced facts which allegedly took place during a party in the fall of 2010, according to Mediapart.
The other woman, a 35-year-old former centrist activist, testifies to facts that allegedly took place in early 2011. According to Mediapart, she filed a complaint for “rape” in 2017 against the deputy and the investigation was closed after shallow investigations.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed to AFP that it had “received on May 20 a report from the Observatory of gender-based and sexual violence”. “It is being analyzed,” he added.
He also indicated “that a first complaint lodged for acts of rape was dismissed on April 6, 2012 due to the complainant’s failure to act” and that a “second complaint lodged by the same complainant for the same facts was dismissed on December 5, 2017, after a preliminary investigation, for lack of a sufficiently serious offence”.
Questioned on Sunday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she discovered these accusations on Saturday. “I can assure you that if there are new elements, if justice is again seized, we will draw all the consequences of this decision”, she added to the media on the sidelines of a trip to Thury- Harcourt (Calvados).
