Ex-archbishop of Paris target of investigation for 'sexual assault'

French prosecutors said on Tuesday (January 3) that a preliminary inquiry was opened last month into "sexual assault on a vulnerable person" allegedly carried out by former Paris archbishop Michel Aupetit. The prosecutor said that the inquiry was initiated on a report filed by the diocese of Paris.

Michel Aupetit offered to resign in late 2021 following media reports of an intimate relationship with a woman in 2012 before he took on the post, allegations he has categorically denied. Pope Francis accepted the resignation.

French broadcaster BFMTV reported that the relationship was with a vulnerable person under judicial protection.

AFP quoted a source close to the case and said that the probe was looking into "email exchanges" between Aupetit and the woman. The consent of the woman would have to be confirmed in view of her mental health.

The diocese released a statement on Tuesday evening confirming that it had filed the report. As quoted by AFP, the diocese said that it was "not in a position to verify whether the facts in question are proven or whether they constitute an offence".

The clergyman's lawyer Jean Reinhart refused to comment.

"We have absolutely no knowledge of a complaint, so we cannot comment on the subject," he said.

A diocese spokeswoman in 2021 said Aupetit "had ambiguous behaviour with a person he was very close to", adding that it was "not a loving relationship", nor sexual.

But she said the offer to step down was "not a confession of guilt".

Aupetit was archbishop during the April 2019 fire that ravaged the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, regularly appearing on television to express anguish over the disaster and rally funds for the rebuilding effort.

(With inputs from agencies)

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