convicted in July for sexual assault, a pastor from Colmar is now excluded from the Legion of Honor

A pastor from Colmar, convicted in July of sexual harassment and sexual assault on six women, was excluded from the order of the Legion of Honor, reported Wednesday January 3 France Bleu Alsace.

The pastor and former president of the Espoir association, Bernard Rodenstein, was appointed to the rank of officer in November 2000. The decision was published this Wednesday in the Official Journal. Bernard Rodenstein, 82 years old, is therefore “permanently deprived of the right to wear the insignia of any French or foreign decoration belonging to the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor”.

Bernard Rodenstein was sentenced on July 6 to three years in prison for sexual harassment and sexual assault on employees and volunteers of the Espoir association that he chaired in Colmar for 46 years. The events occurred between 2014 and 2020.