Coral affair

 Coral affair (France/VIPaedophile)

Date	1982
Location	Nîmes,  Occitania,  France
Description	Case of sexual abuse of minors that was exposed in France in 1982. Highly publicized at the time, the case is marked by the questioning of several public figures, which gave rise to a certain suspicion of manipulation or cover-up, by either police or politics.

The Coral blue ballet or the Coral affair, was a case of sexual abuse of minors that was exposed in France in 1982. Highly publicized at the time, the case is marked by the questioning of several public figures, which gave rise to a certain suspicion of manipulation or cover-up, by either police or politics.

Overview

Coral was an educational "place of life" installed in an old farm in Aimargues, in the Gard, about fifteen kilometers from Nîmes in southern France. In the years after May 68, on the initiative of non-conformist educators or teachers, "places of life are developing in France aimed at applying alternative educational practices.

At the end of 1981, a man named Jean-Claude Krief, aged 21, asks to do an educational internship on site. He stayed for a few weeks at the Coral between Christmas 1981 and February 1982.

In the fall of 1982, children from Coral were picked up by a neighbor and talked about pedophilic practices. A complaint is filed with the gendarmerie by parents whose children have stayed at the Coral. The gendarmes visit the center on October 13, 1982. The investigating judge first of all inculcates Claude Sigala, the Coral psychiatrist Alain Chiapello and an educator, Jean-Noël Bardy.

At the same time, Jean-Claude Krief is arrested and charged with fraud and forgery of checks. He then said he had information about the Coral affair, which the media seized on: according to him, pedophilia was widely practiced at Coral, but the center would also welcome perverts from various backgrounds, who would come there to abuse the minors housed there. Krief accuses Claude Sigala and two other educators of sexual practices on minors staying at the Coral. According to his denunciations, a traffic of child pornography photos would transit through the Coral, or would be organized there. Rumor is soon talking about sexual abuse committed in particular on minors with down syndrome.

Many political or intellectual personalities, often oriented to the left, are cited in Jean-Claude Krief's denunciations. Jack Lang, then minister of culture, is accused in particular. Jean-Claude Krief, released, tries to sell the newspapers a false police report accusing the minister. Michel Krief, brother of Jean-Claude, is arrested for attempted blackmail against the minister. Falsified documents implicate personalities such as Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, or even the current prime Minister Pierre Mauroy.

For his part, Claude Sigala denounces Krief as a mythomaniac, himself a pedophile, having fraudulently posed as a Coral host; he also evokes the possibility of a political conspiracy, which may target the "libertarian and self-managing lifestyle" of Coral. One of the accused, Jean-Noël Bardy, acknowledges having had a "romantic relationship" with a resident of the Coral, and "sexual activities", specifying that "this sexual freedom was part of a new therapeutic". The investigation reveals that a young man, arrested in 1977 for the rape and murder of a resident of the Coral, returned, after a stay in a psychiatric hospital, to stay at the scene of his crime with the "reckless" agreement of Claude Sigala.

The police investigations show that the accused public figures were innocent.

Jean-Claude Krief retracts part of his accusations in November 1982. Michel Krief, his brother, is found dead; the investigation concludes in a suicide, but his death generates new rumors.

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References

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