France orders police to review 70,000 child sexual assault complaints after Lyhanna death

Following the death of 11‑year‑old Lyhanna in the Gers department, French justice minister Gérald Darmanin and interior minister Laurent Nuñez have ordered police and gendarmerie units to examine roughly 70,000 pending sexual‑assault complaints involving minors. Investigators describe the task as practically impossible given an existing stock of three million procedures, severe staffing shortages, and outdated case‑management software. One officer reported handling up to 150 files per investigator, far above earlier levels of 30‑60, and warned that the mental strain is comparable to a doctor facing multiple cardiac arrests at once.

Police unions say the system lacks between 2,000 and 2,500 investigators, and the gendarmerie alone holds about 14,000 such procedures. Officials admit the review may not be completed before the July 14 deadline and could divert resources from other investigations. The situation has sparked fear among officers of being singled out for past handling of cases like Lyhanna, highlighting broader concerns about the capacity of France’s judicial and policing apparatus to prioritize and resolve sexual‑violence crimes against minors.