The General Inspectorate of Higher Education believes that the University of Tours should have initiated disciplinary proceedings against a former student of the Faculty of Medicine, reports France Bleu Touraine on Friday May 20. This is the subject of five complaints. He is accused of rape and four sexual assaults.
>> FRANCEINFO SURVEY. Did the University of Tours “protect” a medical student accused of sexual violence?
During the three weeks of investigation, 17 members of the University of Tours were questioned. The report was submitted Thursday to the Ministry of Higher Education. He points to a lack of knowledge of the legal tools, a misunderstanding between the university and the public prosecutor of Tours and concludes that there was no desire to cover up the affair.
“The University of Tours did not know how to act well in the face of this type of situation, which leads to nonsense”
Patrick Attalin the report of the General Inspectorate of Higher Education
Patrick Allal, rapporteur for the general inspection of higher education regrets “a lack of legal culture in France“. France Bleu Touraine specifies that it refers to Patrice Diot, the dean of the college. On September 14, 2020, the latter summoned the student in question, his parents and the accusers. The dean then forbade the student to come back to university and go to an internship.
However, this decision was taken outside of any official framework and no written record was left. “He had no jurisdiction to initiate disciplinary proceedings, it was up to the president of the university to do so.“, retorts Me Delphine Meillet, lawyer for Patrice Diot. She also recalls that the dean of the college was “the only” Act. For his part, Patrick Allal believes that “the dean thought he was doing the right thing but that’s not how it happens“.
According to him, the absence of disciplinary proceedings can also be explained by a misunderstanding between the public prosecutor of Tours and the university. In the fall of 2020, “the prosecutor tells the university not to carry out any internal hearing outside of any administrative framework, in other words to do things by the rules“. Remarks “obviously misunderstood“, continues the rapporteur of the general inspection of higher education. “The university believed that he did not want there to be a disciplinary procedure so as not to interfere with the criminal investigation.“But the two are complementary.
Patrick Attal says that everything “went very quickly then, because two weeks later, the student was placed in pre-trial detention, everyone at the university considered that the question was settled“. This is why the student – left free after his indictment – was able to continue his studies in Limoges and do an internship in gynecology. Disciplinary sanctions could have been taken against him, which could go as far as lifelong exclusion from any institution of higher education.
The report of the general inspection of higher education concludes that the university did not seek to stifle this affair. To avoid repeating the same mistakes, he recommends legal training for university staff, including management.
Contacted by France Bleu Touraine, the University of Tours indicates that it will not comment until it has the report in its possession. Another general inspection, this time commissioned by the Ministry of Health, is still in progress.