Television host Jean-Marc Morandini appears this Monday, October 24 before the Paris Criminal Court for “bribery of minors”
. He is suspected of having solicited the sexual favors of two teenagers, by SMS for one and via a casting for the second. Punishable by five years’ imprisonment, these alleged facts date back to 2009 and 2013 and are challenged by Jean-Marc Morandini, 57, who hosts a daily program on CNews, dedicated to the media and current affairs debates, after having notably hosted the programs “Crimes” on NRJ 12 or “Presumed innocent” on Direct 8 . “We have the impression that we want Mr. Morandini to be tried at all costs”denounces to AFP one of his lawyers, Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, who assures that his client has “was the victim of a terrible media lynching” throughout these six years of instruction.
Two complaints filed
The first complaint is coming from a teenager to which Jean-Marc Morandini would have made sexual proposals in electronic exchanges, between February and March 2013, when the host was in charge of the program “You are live” on NRJ 12. Faced with investigators in 2016, the complainant had referred to conversations having “slipped” towards his sexual orientation and masturbation. “Because he was extremely publicized and popular, I ended up getting into his game”he had declared, according to elements reported then by 20 minutes. The second plaintiff, who has since withdrawn, had for his part said that he had been contacted in July 2009 by the host’s production company, via a casting site, for a remake project of “Ken Park”, a American film featuring very raw sex between teens.
Position of “weakness”
For the needs of the casting, he had assured to have gone to the home of Jean-Marc Morandini, to undress in front of him and said he refused to masturbate as the host asked him to. Placed in police custody in 2016, Jean-Marc Morandini defended himself by assuring that he was not informed of the age of the first complainant and that he had ceased all relationship with the second as soon as he had learned that he was under 18. “We consider that the offense of corruption is not constituted: it must have had the aim of perverting a minor and it is very difficult to know what exactly covers this qualification”, assures Me Dreyfus-Schmidt. Civil party to the trial, the association Acting against child prostitution (APCE) says it is waiting for a criminal response “copy”. “Young people are particularly exposed when it comes to attractive jobs such as castings, in which they are in a weak position.“, estimates Bérengère Wallaert, its general delegate, quoted in a press release.
Open crisis at iTélé
At the end of 2016, this affair had caused an open crisis at iTélé, the news channel that preceded CNews, of which the businessman Vincent Bolloré had taken control a year earlier. For a month, the editorial staff had gone on strike to protest against the arrival on the air of Jean-Marc Morandini,
who had just been indicted for “corruption of minors”. The movement had resulted in the departure of nearly a third of the journalists of the news channel. In a forum then addressed to the strikers, Mr. Morandini had then asked them to “let work”. “What does the presumption of innocence, which everyone believes they respect, mean if I cannot practice my profession before the end of criminal proceedings which can be long?”, he wrote.
Another lawsuit for “sexual harassment”
In another case, Jean-Marc Morandini is also put on trial for “sexual harassment”
towards an actor. His production company “Ne Zappez pas! Production”, of which he is the legal representative, will be judged for “hidden work” against five plaintiffs. The trial date has not yet been set.