A wave of alleged sexual and physical assault cases in French nurseries and junior schools has exposed deep structural failures in the country’s non-teaching staff system.
Charlotte, a mother in the Parisian suburb of Colombes, says she has felt emotionally cut off since April 8, 2026, the day her 4-year-old son disclosed he had been sexually assaulted.
Her son alleged the abuse was carried out by a teaching assistant named Ryan at his elementary school, Gustave Bienvetu, in Colombes.
“At first, I thought I had misunderstood — it seemed unimaginable that this should happen to my son. When it finally sunk in, it felt like the heavens were falling down on me,” Charlotte told DW.
Charlotte and her husband alerted both the school and town hall, and the teaching assistant was almost immediately suspended following the disclosure.
However, Charlotte said other critical steps were not taken swiftly enough, with the mayor’s office reportedly waiting two weeks before alerting the prosecutor as required by law.
Two other families subsequently lodged complaints against the same teaching assistant, one for exhibitionism and a second for alleged sexual assault, bringing the total number of affected children to three.
Anne, co-founder of SOS Periscolaires, a collective that has registered more than 500 cases of sexual or physical violence in nurseries and junior schools since its founding in 2021, said slow official responses are a familiar pattern across France.
Jean-Michel Bocquet, a lecturer in educational science at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord and the Catholic University of Paris, said that in roughly 40% of cases, playground assistants working for external companies are not required to undergo training or criminal background checks.
“In any case, according to our research, the preferred profile for the job is a man with authority and humor instead of an empathetic woman. That increases the chance of recruiting sexual predators,” Bocquet told DW.
Jerome Camus, a sociologist at the University of Tours, pointed to a 2013 school reform that shortened school days and doubled the number of non-teaching assistants required, from 1 million to 2 million, as a key factor worsening the crisis.
“Plus, up until the 1980s, school leisure times were supposed to give children access to cultural activities — they were thought of as a space for freedom. Nowadays, non-teaching staff only has to monitor children — which means they hardly need to be qualified,” Camus explained.
The issue gained widespread public attention only in September 2025, when the first cases came to light in Paris, and the Paris prosecutor’s office has since confirmed more than 100 reports of molestation by non-teaching staff across the city.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, elected in March, announced that more than 130 playground assistants have been suspended since the start of the year, 52 of them for alleged sexual assault, alongside a 20-million-euro action plan covering training, background checks, and family support.
On a national level, parliamentarian Sylvain Maillard of the government party Renaissance has called for staff working with children to be checked through a national register tracking prior convictions and any investigations opened against them.
However, Bocquet warns that even the Parisian plan lacks the depth required, arguing that non-teaching staff need thorough qualifications to detect inappropriate behavior among colleagues and that dedicated safe spaces for children must be created in every institution.
Charlotte continues to push for a nationwide overhaul, calling for teaching assistants to always work in pairs, for cameras in school corridors, and for parents to receive better guidance on detecting signs of abuse.
The case involving her 4-year-old son is expected to be heard in court in the coming months.
