PARIS: A 30-year-old Algerian English instructor identified as Yasser was taken into police custody in Paris on September 22 in connection with complaints involving rape, sexual assault and violence against boys and girls aged between three and five at the private Catholic Ecole Saint-Laurent nursery school in Paris’s 10th arrondissement. More than 20 complaints have been filed in the case, according to reports citing sources close to the investigation.
Yasser worked for Cap English and conducted introductory English lessons for children at Ecole Saint-Laurent. The Paris judicial police’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors opened an investigation in early July after the parents of a three-year-old girl filed a complaint. His lawyer, Hugo Latrabe, confirmed that Yasser had been placed in custody.
The investigation concerns English sessions lasting around 30 minutes. Under a 2019 French education law, kindergarten children can receive early foreign-language instruction. Reports said Yasser entered the Paris Catholic nursery alone, taught small groups in a first-floor room known as the “yellow” room without the regular classroom teacher present, and generally left the school at around 10:45 a.m.
First complaint emerged in May
The first reported warning came on May 11, when a three-year-old girl told her parents that the English teacher had behaved badly and touched her private parts. Her family contacted the school through the Ecole Directe application.
School management subsequently informed parents that a complaint had been filed concerning serious matters connected with English sessions in the kindergarten and said measures had been initiated with judicial authorities. A psychological support unit was also announced.
Parents later criticised the school’s handling of the initial report. According to reports, management initially described the information as unclear and questioned children in small groups about whether Yasser had behaved badly towards them.
Parents said such questioning should have been handled by trained investigators. At that stage, no report had been made to the Paris prosecutor’s office and Yasser was not immediately suspended.
🇫🇷11 staff members are accused of sexual assaults and rapes at the Saint-Dominique nursery school, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France.
"Look at that school behind us, that’s the school where my 3-year-old daughter was raped by several after-school care staff members,"… pic.twitter.com/unvnP8SUjM
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 27, 2026
On May 22, the school director contacted parents about extending Cap English classes to Wednesdays. This meant that children continued to have sessions with Yasser between May 11 and the end of the academic year. The parents of the first girl formally filed a complaint on June 22 and informed the school the following day. Cap English then suspended Yasser, while the school reported the matter to prosecutors.
The Paris prosecutor’s office subsequently centralised complaints through the 10th-arrondissement police station before the case was transferred to the Brigade for the Protection of Minors. Reports now put the number of complaints at more than 20, while separate reporting has referred to 22 children being interviewed as part of the investigation.
Investigation expanded as parents raised concerns
The investigation continued through the summer as specialists conducted interviews with young children under lengthy procedures. Reports said Yasser had obtained a position at a management school for the beginning of the new academic year before being taken into custody.
Reports from parents described widespread shock, anxiety and tension at the Paris school. Parents said communication from the management had been poor from the beginning and that families were concerned about the effect of the case on the future of the school.
They also reported that the new management subsequently introduced stricter measures, including ending the use of external organisations such as Cap English. The school’s original director is on sick leave and has been replaced by an interim manager. Reports said the new administration also stopped hiring male caregivers for children.
Cap English said in a statement published by Le Monde that a former instructor working at a private Paris school had become involved in serious matters falling under the French penal code. The company said Yasser was removed from all activities involving students once the school informed it of the complaints.
Cap English also said the required background checks had been completed when he was hired and had revealed no information that would have prevented him from working with minors. The company said it would cooperate fully with investigators.
The case has emerged amid a wider series of investigations into reports of abuse involving staff at nursery and after-school programmes in the Paris region. The investigation into Yasser’s conduct at Ecole Saint-Laurent remains under the authority of the French judicial system. Reports published later in September said he was subsequently presented to a judge and placed in pre-trial detention while the investigation continued.
