Building on the success of The Voicethe TF1 program The Voice Kids, born in 2014, is aimed at budding artists aged 6 to 15. Three in number during the first four seasons, the coaches are now four since the fifth season. Among them, there was a rotation between the famous Jenifer, Julien Doré, Kendji Girac, Soprano, Louane or even Matt Pokora. And he’s one of the former jury members of The Voice Kids who is currently in the spotlight for legal reasons: Stéphane Métro. A singer, songwriter, singing teacher and also director. During the 2000s, he gained some notoriety through comedies Romeo & Juliet (directed by Gérard Presgurvic) or even The Vampire Ballsupervised by Roman Polanski.
However, this Wednesday, February 15, 2023, the Bobigny judicial court sentenced this 46-year-old artist to five years in prison, including one and a half years for sexual abuse of minors. During his trial (which took place in December 2022), the singer admitted having had a relationship with one of his students, who was only 14 years old at the time of the events when he was 27. The professor was also found guilty of sexually assaulting another 15-year-old student between 2010 and 2011.
See also: Mimie Mathy: this huge revelation of the actress on a story of pedophilia…
This is not the first time that Stéphane Métro finds himself in a legal case since in 1996, he was tried and sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for “sexual assault with violence, coercion, threat, surprise” on two 11-year-old minors. According to the newspaper Release who gave the floor to some of his alleged victims, the man from Reunion, would always use the same process, in other words put his victims on a pedestal to be able to sexually abuse them.
This Sunday, February 19, seven to eight offers a portrait of this predator accompanied by the testimonies of its victims. To one of the young girls, he said: “We’ll be like CelineDion and Rene”. Another victim, Gwendal Marimoutou. Revealed in La France to have incredible talent, the young 14-year-old singer was quickly spotted and hired in the 2000s to participate in the musical The Lion King. A few weeks later, he crossed paths with Stéphane Métro at the Aicom, a prestigious school of musical comedy, in which he was a teacher. As the teenager goes to his apartment to rehearse, the latter abuses him: “I remember McDo the first evening, in his living room watching Romeo and Juliet in which he played. He turns off the lights and it starts. Mechanical, fast. He leaves the room to get dressed. And I find myself alone, a little lost. Each time it happened like this. It happened several times for eight or nine months, before I could say no”. After years of silence and trauma, the victims now finally want to break the silence…
VF
Stéphane Métro is being prosecuted for sexual assault on two teenagers to whom he gave singing lessons. He speaks of “consented relationships”. In 1996, he was convicted of sexually assaulting two children aged 10 and 11, a conviction erased from his criminal record. pic.twitter.com/1lsy4KKtnC
— Seven to Eight (@7a8) February 17, 2023