Darmanin letter reveals thousands of unregistered child sex abuse cases across France

The case that triggered the audit

The letter from Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, dated July 29 and revealed by Le Monde on August 8, was prompted by the death of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old girl raped and killed in late May in southwest France. Her body was found in early June. The principal suspect had been the subject of a prior complaint: a mother had filed a rape complaint against him in August 2025, but he was never pursued. The case provoked a wave of indignation across France and made sexual violence against minors a government priority. Darmanin's 12-page document synthesizes information gathered from 37 prosecutor's offices (parquets généraux) following an internal audit requested by the Justice Ministry.

A "ghost stock" of unregistered cases

The letter's central finding is the existence of a gigantic "ghost stock" (stock fantôme): files never registered by the justice system because police and gendarmerie never transmitted them to prosecutors. This gap exists between procedures known to prosecutors, who depend on the Justice Ministry, and those held by police and gendarmerie, who depend on the Interior Ministry. At Nîmes, prosecutors discovered 1,275 ghost procedures; at Caen, 905. At Agen, a significant number of ongoing procedures were never reported to the prosecutor. In Melun, near Paris, numerous procedures were left without investigation for months or even years, even when the perpetrator was often identified or easily identifiable.

Lost files and obsolete tools

Beyond untransmitted files, some procedures were "purely and simply lost." At Bourges, about fifteen were lost; at Angers, 17; at Annecy, six; at Paris, 23 could not be located. Darmanin attributes part of the problem to the obsolescence of the software used by the national police. Investigators are forced to print dossiers of hundreds of pages, multiplying the risks of loss and poor transmission. The garde des Sceaux describes the dysfunctions as "structural," relating to resources, training, tools, and management, but not to the will of field personnel.

Training gaps and staffing shortages

The letter also highlights insufficient training and human resources. Darmanin cites the case of a reservist police officer conducting child auditions by telephone, and another commissariat where closed questions and inappropriate observations were made during interviews. Some commissariats and gendarmeries had hierarchies that "manifestly prioritized local concerns" over other offenses. Darmanin, who served as Interior Minister before becoming Justice Minister, notes insufficient professional investment, "including in specialized units."

Reactions from the Interior Ministry and magistrates

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, through his entourage, responded to the publication of the letter.

He regrets the premature leak of this document which is a working document being examined by his services, who are working to develop solutions with rigor and pragmatism.

Ludovic Friat, president of the USM, France's main magistrates' union, said the letter confirms the union's findings, particularly on resources for investigation services, but added that it was counterproductive for the two ministries to shift blame onto each other.

It seems useless to send back the difficulties.