Lecornu Proposes Life Sentences for Serial Rapists and 90-Day Investigation Deadlines After Lyhanna Murder
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented emergency child protection measures on June 9, four days after the body of 11-year-old Lyhanna was found in Gers — the suspect had had two prior rape complaints dropped against him. The proposals include life imprisonment for serial rapists (replacing the current 20-year maximum), a three-month mandatory investigation deadline for child abuse cases, and a review of all 70,000 pending child sexual abuse complaints by July 14. More than 60,000 protesters marched across France on Monday evening as Justice Minister Darmanin acknowledged "overwhelming failings" but ruled out resignation.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a 90-minute meeting with key ministers on June 9 to draft initial measures on child protection and sexual violence, presenting the proposals publicly the same day. The package follows four days of mounting political pressure since Lyhanna's body was found on June 6 in the Gers department: the main suspect, Jérôme B, had been the subject of prior complaints, including a rape accusation filed in August 2025 by the mother of a 10-year-old girl named Rosa, which had not resulted in the suspect being summoned. Months elapsed between that complaint and Lyhanna's abduction in Fleurance, southwestern France, on May 29.
Lecornu proposed raising the maximum penalty for serial rapists from 20 years to life imprisonment. Investigations involving crimes against children would be required to conclude "within a maximum of three months." Further measures include modifying the statute of limitations, requiring that victims be kept informed throughout legal proceedings, and mandating written justification whenever sexual crimes cases are dismissed. Additional proposals are being finalised for inclusion in a draft child protection law already presented to the Council of Ministers late last month and scheduled for parliamentary examination in July.
On Monday evening, more than 60,000 people demonstrated in French cities. The lawyer representing Rosa's mother announced plans on Tuesday to sue the state for "gross negligence" and to refer Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin to the Court of Justice of the Republic. Darmanin, who ordered all 70,000 pending court complaints involving children to be reviewed by July 14, appeared before the Senate alongside Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who defended the handling by police and gendarmes of sexual violence cases. Darmanin publicly acknowledged "overwhelming failings" in the case but ruled out resigning.
The High Council of the Judiciary responded to the public criticism by deploring what it called the "discrediting of thousands of judges." Several prosecutors described to AFP a judicial system at breaking point: Franck Rastoul, the public prosecutor in Aix-en-Provence, said 3.6 million cases are being processed nationwide without new resources, forcing prosecutors to "prioritise these cases even more, even if it obviously means processing others at a reduced pace." Minister Delegate for Gender Equality Aurore Bergé said the system was "not sufficiently on the side of victims."
Lecornu pledged that funding for combating gender-based and sexual violence "will be maintained" in the 2027 budget and said he would meet MPs backing a comprehensive sexist-and-sexual-violence bill "at the end of the week." The case, which French parties had already been calling for systemic judicial reform over as of June 7, has entered the 2027 presidential campaign, with candidates divided on responses including resource allocation to the justice system and judicial accountability.