Call for witnesses launched after accusations of sexual assault targeting a member of the Catholic Focolare movement

A call for witnesses has been launched after accusations of sexual assault on minors and adults. They are targeting the man of the Church Jean-Michel Merlin, member of the Focolare, a Catholic religious movement founded in 1943, the police headquarters wrote in a press release on Tuesday January 2.

Jean-Michel Merlin is accused of having committed these attacks “over the years within this religious movement”. Still according to the press release, several victims came forward to “report acts committed against them”.

The Nanterre judicial court referred the matter to the territorial family protection brigade of the Hauts-de-Seine territorial security. It is this brigade which is responsible for continuing the investigation “and in particular the search for witnesses and victims not yet identified”. The ecclesial movement, for its part, mandated an independent cabinet.