A series of alleged cases of sexual and physical abuse is shining a light on fundamental problems in France’s nursery and junior school system. Politicians have promised reforms – but experts say their plans don’t go far enough.
Starting on April 8, 2026, Charlotte, who does not want her real name revealed to protect her son’s identity, feels cut off from her feelings.
It’s the only way she can cope, she says.
That day, her 4-year-old son told her that a teaching assistant named Ryan had sexually assaulted him. Gustave Bienvetu at his primary school in Colombes, a suburb of Paris.
“At first I thought I had misunderstood – it seemed unimaginable that this would happen to my son. When it finally sunk in, it felt as if the sky had fallen on me,” he told DW.
Charlotte and her husband alerted the school and town hall about the events. The teaching assistant was suspended almost immediately.
Are officials reacting too slowly?
But other measures were not implemented so quickly, Charlotte said.
“According to the law, the mayor’s office should have immediately alerted the prosecutor, but it did so only two weeks later,” he said. He said other families at the school should also have been informed immediately.
“When that didn’t happen, we filed sexual assault allegations and told other parents what had happened,” Charlotte said.
Two other families filed complaints against Ryan: one for exhibitionism, because their son allegedly watched the scene with Charlotte’s son. A second child also reported being sexually harassed by a teaching assistant.
The Town Hall has denied Charlotte’s allegations. “The prosecutor was alerted following the insufficient time period required to draft a report, which had to be written in a fair and accurate manner,” the mayor’s office wrote in an email to DW. He said assistance had been provided to the affected families.
But Anne, co-founder of SOS Periscoleres, a group that investigates reports of physical and sexual abuse of children in nursery and junior schools, said authorities across France were often slow to respond. His public sector job prevents him from revealing his last name.
“This is a recurring pattern that we have seen in many of the more than 500 cases of sexual or physical violence recorded since its inception in 2021,” he told DW.
Deep-rooted problems in the system
Anne France believes that the teaching assistantship field has become a playground for predators, because it is so easy to find employment there.
“Non-teaching staff are managed by the town hall or an external company. In the latter case, which we think is about 40%, playground assistants do not need to be trained and do not need to have their criminal backgrounds checked,” he explained.
He said salaries were so low that it was difficult to attract qualified personnel.
Jean-Michel Bocquet, a lecturer in educational sciences at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord and the Catholic University of Paris, said things were hardly better when the town hall was in charge.
“Teaching assistants will simply have to do the same four-week training that was initially meant for summer camp assistants,” he told DW.
“In any case, according to our research, the preferred profile for the job is a man with authority and humor, rather than an empathetic woman. This increases the likelihood of sexual predators being recruited,” Bocquet said.
Jerome Camus, a sociologist at the University of Tours in central France, said the situation has gradually worsened.
“The 2013 school reform shortened school days and extended non-teaching periods, so that we now need 2 million teaching assistants instead of 1 million,” he explained.
“Also, until the 1980s, children were given access to cultural activities during school recess – they were thought of as a space for freedom. Nowadays, non-teaching staff only have to supervise children – meaning they hardly need to be qualified.”
Abuse in Paris makes headlines
Abuse by teaching assistants attracted widespread public attention after the first case was reported in September 2025 in Paris, where many media organizations are based.
The number of reports of molestation by non-teaching staff across Paris has increased rapidly since then and now reaches more than 100, the Paris prosecutor’s office told DW.
Now many court cases are going on. SOS Periscoleres is aware of at least 70 formal complaints against teaching assistants across the country.
Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris newly elected in March, recently confirmed that more than 130 playground assistants have been suspended since the beginning of this year, 52 of them for alleged sexual harassment. Grégoire also announced a €20 million action plan that includes a thorough audit of the existing system, better training and background checks for non-teaching staff, a more efficient alert system and better support for concerned families.
The new measures are due to come into effect this autumn.
At the national level, several draft laws are headed to Parliament or will soon be passed that mostly focus on strengthening background checks.
“Employees who work with children should be checked through a national register that shows whether they have been found guilty of child abuse or whether an investigation has been opened against them at some point,” Sylvain Maillard, an MP from the government party Renaissance, told DW.
Is there a need for radical change in the system?
But Lecturer Boquete doubts that these measures will go far enough.
He stressed, “Even the Paris plan is too vague. Non-teaching staff need full qualifications so they can detect when their colleagues are showing inappropriate tendencies.” He said that comprehensive training programs should be conducted at the nationwide level.
“And we must create a dedicated safe space in every institution where children can express themselves.”
Charlotte is now demanding an overhaul of the system nationwide.
“Teaching assistants should be paid properly and should always work in two halves while taking care of children. Authorities should also install cameras in school corridors to monitor what is happening,” he said.
“And parents need to be better informed about how to spot potential signs of abuse,” Charlotte said.
The case of his 4-year-old son is likely to be heard in the coming months.
Edited by: Andreas Illmer