The ex-coach indicted for rape and sexual assault on several skaters, including Sarah Abitbol, died at the age of 66. The legal action ends with his death.
Former figure skating coach Gilles Beyer, accused of rape and sexual assault by several women including his former student Sarah Abitbol, died at the age of 66, we learned on Saturday from his lawyer, confirming information from the Obs. Gilles Beyer, who was “very sick” according to Me Thibault de Montbrial, was at the center of a resounding scandal of sexual violence in figure skating.
At the beginning of 2020, the former skater Sarah Abitbol had accused him, in the book Un si long silence, repeated rapes and sexual assaults, committed when she was between 15 and 17 years old in the early 90s. However, she had not filed a complaint, the facts being prescribed. In a written statement to AFP, Gilles Beyer acknowledged “intimate relationships” et “inappropriate” with Sarah Abitbol, presenting her with «excuses».
After these revelations, he was indicted in January 2021 by an investigating judge for sexual assault by a person in authority and sexual harassment by a person in authority, and placed under judicial supervision for more recent alleged facts.
“I would have liked there to be a trial”
“I am in shock. He leaves before being judged, I would have liked there to be a trial.reacted Sarah Abitbol to Obs. The death of Gilles Beyer indeed leads to the closure of the judicial investigation “by extinction of public action”confirms Me de Montbrial. “It’s crazy, this death comes just a week before my show, where I talk about this trauma, the liberation of my speech, my rebirth, and my return to the ice… God has decided so”added Sarah Abitbol. “Many false things have been said and written about [Gilles Beyer] and I would have liked him to have had the opportunity to speak publicly, some would have been surprised.says his lawyer.
In the closed world of figure skating, Sarah Abitbol’s book had led to a flood of revelations. Other skaters had made accusations of sexual assault, sexual harassment or blackmail aimed at other coaches or ex-skating coaches. The president for more than twenty years of the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG), Didier Gailhaguet, had been forced after a long standoff to resign at the beginning of February 2020. An administrative investigation then brought to light suspicions weighing on 21 FFSG coaches.