With less than three days remaining before voters head to the first polls, a new scandal could have a radioactive effect on the campaign for mayor in the French capital.
PARIS — The campaign to elect the new mayor of Paris is taking a dark turn in its final stretch, as allegations that the outgoing center-left administration failed to act on reports of child abuse in public schools threaten to derail former Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire’s candidacy.
A bombshell report from French public radio earlier this week alleged that three lawsuits had been filed against a Parisian kindergarten employee for purported rapes against minors.
According to the report, the employee had already been targeted by complaints for alleged cases of screaming and physical abuse against children in another city-run kindergarten — but the administration transferred him to another school instead of suspending him. Several other reports containing similar allegations have emerged over the past few months.
The leading center-right candidate, Rachida Dati, who has turned these reports into one of her campaign’s core issues, said on Thursday that members of her group in the city council had “alerted” Grégoire as early as 2015. At that time, the Socialist candidate was the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of public employment.
“[Grégoire] said ‘move along, there’s nothing to see here’,” Dati said in an interview with CNews Thursday. She accused the outgoing administration of having “given sexual predators a second chance.”
Grégoire, who early in his campaign said he had also been a victim of child abuse, has pushed back against attempts to hold him responsible for possible oversights. “I haven’t been at City Hall for almost two years,” said Grégoire, who dropped his role as deputy mayor for a seat in the French parliament in 2024. “I am no longer in charge and have never been in charge of this matter,” he added in an interview with FranceInfo on Thursday.
Last month, current Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo acknowledged that her administration had made “mistakes” in handling these cases — but she accused her right-wing opponents of weaponizing the issue.
Dati, known for her political showmanship, brought out a man who claimed that his 5-year-old daughter had been abused in a city-run facility as she unveiled her platform in February. She has pledged to vigorously enforce laws that prohibit an adult worker from being alone with a child in schools and to increase background checks for new recruits. Grégoire’s platform includes similar promises.
The first round of the election will take place on Sunday. Grégoire is currently leading in the polls, but the outcome will remain uncertain until the runoff on March 22.
Dati is the local mayor for Paris’ 7th arrondissement, where the aforementioned kindergarten employee worked before being transferred. A report from investigative outlet Mediapart said one of Dati’s advisers had been made aware of the situation by parents, but it noted that she would not have had the authority to fire the employee.
With so little time remaining before the vote, Grégoire’s camp is hoping that voters have already picked their preferred candidate and that the latest reports will “not sway any votes,” said an official backing the Socialist Party candidate who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
But Dati, who is hosting her first and only campaign rally so far Thursday evening in Paris, is unlikely to let up on the matter with less than 10 days remaining for her to make the case that she should be the next mayor of Paris.
This story has been updated.