Published
Video duration:
12 mins
In 2000, her grandson Gabriel, 9 years old, accused her of having raped him. Fifteen years of legal battle later, Christian Iacono will be recognized as the victim of a miscarriage of justice, acquitted and cleared of all suspicion. For the first time, the grandfather, now in his eighties, and Gabriel, now an adult, are reunited on a television set, during an issue of “Sensitive Affairs” on “the tragic lie of a grandson “.
“It’s a long story… fifteen years! I had time to weigh all the things. I immediately forgave the child that he was for having made this gesture, because he was in a difficult situation.” Fifteen years of legal battle, sixteen months of detention… this is what the former mayor of Vence Christian Iacono experienced after the rape accusations made in 2000 by his 9-year-old grandson. Twenty-three years later, Fabrice Drouelle brought them both together on the set of “Sensitive Affairs”.
This is the first time they appear together on television, but both see each other regularly in private, explains Gabriel Iacono, now in his thirties. After his retraction (in 2011), the young man fought for the rehabilitation of his grandfather. Does he really have no resentment?
“I always remember the day when they brought me ‘Nice Matin’ in the visiting room at the prison, and it was headlined ‘No, my grandfather never raped me’, I I said: ‘For me, the matter is over.’ This is what I expected, this is what I hoped for.”
Christian Iaconoon the set of “Sensitive Affairs”
A conflicting family context
Why this lie? “I was a lost child, remembers Gabriel. I was lost between my grandparents on one side and my parents on the other.” His grandfather, who is now approaching 90, knows well that “These are complex matters”. “JI forgave him because he was too young and he was in a situation where he could not fix something that tormented him daily [un conflit entre son père et son grand-père, auquel s’ajoutait le divorce de ses parents]. He is 9 years old, he does not know the consequences of an accusation. I suffered the consequences, but I don’t blame him.” he says.
To rebuild himself after withdrawing his accusations, Gabriel Iacono had to work a lot, notably with a psychologist. The young man has one wish today, it is “to have your whole family [réunie] in the future”. “For the moment, this is not yet relevant, he regrets, But I’m hopeful.” His grandfather expresses the same wish: “The Iacono family will only be able to live peacefully if the father [de Gabriel, Philippe Iacono, qui continue à mettre en doute la rétractation de son fils] please enter into a dialogue with us, with him. (…) Everyone can make mistakes.”
An interview conducted on the occasion of the broadcast of the documentary “The tragic lie of a grandson” In “Sensitive Affairs”, a France Télévisions, France Inter and INA co-production, adapted from a France Inter program, to be seen on France 2 on Sundays at 3:05 p.m.