STRASBOURG, July 24, 2025 – A 52-year-old man accused of filming young children in Strasbourg’s municipal pools died by suicide July 21. The news was announced on Wednesday, July 23, just as his hearing was set to begin.
The man was struck by a freight train around 4 p.m. on Monday, July 21, on railway tracks bordering the Hautepierre and Cronenbourg districts. Firefighters and emergency medical services declared him dead at the scene.
### “Virtual Killing” Led to Real Death
His lawyer, Laura Javaux, attributed his death to intense media coverage of the case. “We see the damage that can do with the media coverage of this kind of case,” she stated, noting the “large number of reactions, comments, all more distressing than the other, on social networks.” She believes this “virtual killing has led to its real death.”
The man faced charges of “voyeurism committed on a minor” and “infringement of the privacy of privacy by fixing, recording or transmission of the image of a person with a sexual nature.” He was accused of filming 60 children in municipal pools in Strasbourg without their knowledge between January 2023 and June 2025.
### Miniature Camera Found in Shoe
He was apprehended on Sunday, June 9, after a father, alerted by his behavior, caught him filming two 4- and 5-year-old girls in a changing room. The man used a miniature camera hidden in a shoe, slipped under a partition.
Initially apprehended by a father and handed over to police, the man admitted to all charges. A preliminary examination of his phone revealed 60 videos of unidentified minors. Further analysis of his computer equipment was ordered.
### Judicial Supervision Issued
The accused, described as an employed and integrated member of society, was first summoned on June 12. The court ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and the case file was sent for review six weeks later.
Pending the hearing, he was released under judicial supervision. Restrictions included prohibitions on visiting pools, bodies of water, and engaging in activities involving minors.
### Lawyer Notes Shame and Despair
A psychiatric evaluation found no “criminological dangerousness,” according to Me Grégory Thuan dit Dieudonné, counsel for the Association Innocence in Danger. The doctor recommended psychological and psychiatric follow-up, as well as socio-judicial support.
“He is someone who quickly took the measure of the severity of the acts he had committed,” Dieudonné admitted. He added that the man felt “a very intense and very deep shame which certainly had to play in his act.” Me Javaux described him as “a desperate, cornered, collapsed man” who leaves behind “a mother, a woman and two young children.”
### Civil Parties Continue Fight for Pool Safety
Me Fleur Toutain, representing the parents of two girls filmed, stated, “The civil parties do not wish to worsen this dramatic announcement… And wish to respect the mourning of the family.” Her clients intend to “continue their fight with the city of Strasbourg to try to obtain developments in the swimming pools.”
The father who uncovered the voyeur reported meeting with a team from the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg in late June. Discussions included creating a “safe zone” for families in changing areas, making them inaccessible to single men, and installing signage for these reserved spaces.
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