Sawt Falasteen - Ex-Olympic swim champion Agnel to appear in French court for alleged rape

The public prosecutor's office requested that the swimmer be brought before the departmental criminal court for rape of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 in 2016, with both charges pertaining to the same victim, judicial sources said.

The investigating judge must issue their final order before the end of April, the same sources added.

The judge can either issue an order of dismissal -- partial or total -- or referral to the correctional court or to the criminal court.

The investigation began in the summer of 2021 following a complaint from a swimmer who trained with Agnel in Mulhouse between 2014 and 2016.

The swimmer is suspected of having had a relationship with the teenager while he was staying with her parents.

At the time, he was 24-years-old while she was only aged 13. The investigation led to the swimmer being indicted on December 11, 2021.

Agnel, now 32, has always insisted the relationship was consensual and loving.

The public prosecutor at the time, Edwige Roux-Morizot, considered that "the facts constitute rape and sexual assault due to the age difference, because the justice system considers that there is genuine moral duress".

Last July, Agnel went to the office of the investigating judge in Mulhouse for a confrontation that he had requested with his accuser, now aged 21.

Agnel came to international prominence at the 2010 European championships when he won gold in the 400-metre freestyle setting a new French and championships record.

Two years later he starred at the London Olympics when he took gold in the 200m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle as well as silver in the 4x200m freestyle.

He collected gold medals in the same two events in the 2013 world championships.

Agnel went to Rio in 2016 to defend his 200m freestyle title but failed to get through the heats, announcing his retirement from swimming soon after.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST