Almost a year after the start of the investigations, the case is closed. The investigation targeting former Pyrénées-Atlantiques MP Jean Lassalle after a complaint for rape and sexual assault was closed, announced the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office, information from France Bleu of which we have confirmation. A 45-year-old woman had accused the former presidential candidate of 2017 and 2022, now head of the “Rural Alliance” list for the Europeans, of having sexually assaulted and raped her in 2010 in a Bordeaux hotel room , on the sidelines of the campaign for the regional elections.
The complaint was dismissed due to lack of sufficient material evidence to confirm the accusations, according to the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office. “The investigations did not make it possible to establish the existence of a criminal offense,” he told Le Parisien.
“Never raped anyone”
The complainant claimed to have contacted Jean Lassalle regarding her daughter's schooling problems. The former deputy would have offered to join him in a large hotel in Bordeaux. She imagined attending a “team meeting”, against the backdrop of the regional campaign, but found herself alone with him in a room, before being forcefully kissed and raped, according to her account. “I realized that I had been unwell for twelve years because of that. This even led me to attempt suicide,” she said, specifying that she had been pregnant during the alleged events.
Since the start of the case and the opening of an investigation on May 3, 2023, the 68-year-old former Béarnais shepherd had always denied these accusations and claimed to “not remember” the complainant. He assured that he had “never raped anyone” during his hearing last November at the Bordeaux judicial police. He was released from police custody, with the prosecution specifying that "no prosecution" would be brought against him, which was confirmed by this dismissal at the end of the investigation.
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Speaking to France Bleu, Jean Lassalle said he was “relieved” by this decision. “Put yourself in my place, this is still the kind of accusation likely to land you in court and land you in prison. It's a crime. So what a relief to be free of it,” he reacted. In June, he will lead the “Rural Alliance” list alongside Willy Schraen, head of the National Hunters Federation.
This is not the first time that the candidate, who served for two decades in the National Assembly, has faced accusations of sexual assault. In 2017, he was accused of having put his hand on the buttocks of a person attached to the communications department of the Communist Party, Julia Castanier. “I have no problem with women or men for that matter. I think I have a normal attitude,” he defended himself at the time, once again asserting that he had no memory of his accuser. Several women interviewed by Mediapart had also described him as a “very insistent” man and a “slimy MP”.