More than 240 women report having been drugged by a former senior French government official for almost a decade

The criminal investigation opened in France against Nègre has put on the table a pattern of alleged attacks committed over almost a decade taking advantage of supposed job interviews.

Although the case came to light in 2018 and he was removed from his position in the Ministry in 2019, The judicial process progresses with unbearable slowness for the dozens of victims who also watch helplessly as Nègre has continued working in the private sector.

According to the judicial investigation, the former senior official He offered his victims coffee or tea laced with a powerful illegal diuretic, what caused in these a urgent need to urinate during job interviews.

The complainants report that he then used to propose continuing the interview on walks through areas without immediate access to bathrooms, which generated situations of anguish, humiliation and even episodes in which those affected urinated on themselves.

It was a colleague of Nègre in the Ministry who reported in 2018 that he had tried photograph the legs of a high official.

The Police found a spreadsheet titled Experiments, where he would have recorded the administration of the substance and the women’s reactions.

“It was my dream”

“Working at the Ministry of Culture was my dream,” remembers one of his victims Sylvie Delezennemarketing expert from Lille, in an interview The Guardianwho in 2015 went to Paris after being contacted by the official through LinkedIn.

“Six years later, we are still waiting for a trial, which is amazing,” denounces Émilie, another of the women affected, who affirms that This judicial delay “generates more trauma than reparation.”

Although some have received compensation in a civil lawsuit, the Ministry of Culture was not found guilty.

However, the consequences for those affected have extended for years. Delezenne, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, says that the case has marked her professional and personal life: she avoided returning to Paris, stopped applying for jobs and suffers from nightmares and outbursts of anger.

Other women, such as Anaïs de Vos or Émilie herself, describe similar episodes of extreme physical discomfort, disorientation and shame, all allegedly caused by manipulated drinks.