Never let go. Never give up on a criminal case. Use all legal and media means to avoid letting cases fall into legal limbo. Since the early 2000s, Didier Seban has been one of the lawyers specializing in “cold cases”.
The lawyer for the forgotten is now defending the victims of the unidentified serial rapist. Of his wives who, in their own way, want this man to be identified.
Avoid prescribing facts
One female victim, then two, then three. The file now includes fifteen women who have been sexually abused by a stranger in their home, with DNA, a route – from the Hauts-de-Seine to the south – and a modus operandi very similar. For me Seban,”this serious matter” had to be re-examined by the courts.
At the beginning of the summer of 2024, the Seban cabinet – which has a project manager in charge of the criminal sector in order to study each individual case – received confirmation to take responsibility for the “itinerant rapist case” by the specialized department of the Nanterre court of justice . for unsolved criminal cases.
“New investigations will be launched with modern means, judges and dedicated investigators“, notes Me Seban. This allows us to dust off the file, to start almost from scratch to identify the author of the facts.”This new research will make it possible to avoid rewriting the facts. Only the death of the wanted person could stop the criminal proceedings.“.
Call for other victims
“I discovered that several of us had been abused in the same way. When I saw the list of first and last names on the file, I told myself that was not possible! Women may not have dared to file a complaint like us. They can still do it“, said a victim from the Riviera.
For the Seban Cabinet, “Media coverage can allow female victims of similar attacks to come forward and provide additional elements in the search for the truth“.
Although no identity has been linked to the serial rapist so far, and his DNA has not been found at a crime scene since 2006, the case has indeed been relaunched. Potential victims or witnesses can contact the police or gendarmerie.
All doors must be closed. All avenues must be explored.
Cold case: Keep the seals longer
Two articles in the Criminal Procedure Act came into force on Monday 30 September:
- Article 41-4 provides the ban on destroying seals until the expiration of a period of 10 years (from the statute of limitations for public prosecution, in connection with unsolved crimes falling under the Unsolved Crime Series Unit (PSCNE);
- Article 706-106-3 allows a public prosecutor toinitiate the relinquishment of an investigative judge in favor of a competent courtlike the PSCNE.
