Barely six months after the scandal erupted, the former deputy mayor, who had been accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy for over a decade, returned to politics. Although he denied the charges, he temporarily resigned from the city assembly pending the preliminary investigation. Now, however, that the prosecution has dropped his case citing its prescriptive period, he returned to his former post.

The scandal sparked by an article printed in the New York Times last August has received extensive media coverage. The paper published an exclusive interview with 46-year-old Aniss Hmaid, originally from Tunisia, who claimed that Christophe Girard, the former deputy mayor of Paris, had sexually abused him for years in the 1990s. Hmaid was only 15 years old, therefore a minor, when their relationship began. In the interview, he stressed that he had been regularly raped, which led to permanent mental health issues.

To support his claim, Aniss Hmaid has relied on several witness accounts and photos. He claimed that Girard first raped him on a trip in America and then regularly coerced him into sex for years to come. The 64-year-old politician denied all allegations even though Hmaid presented a photo which showed Girard completely naked. Hmaid claimed that the front view photo had been taken following a sexual intercourse, which the politician firmly denied. However, Hmaid refused to disclose the exact circumstances in which the photo had been taken.

This was not the first time that Christophe Girard has been implicated in paedophilia scandals. He was elected deputy mayor of Paris in September 2018, but resigned in July 2020 after his close friendship with the 84-year-old writer Gabriel Matzneff, accused of paedophilia, came to light. Although the politician denied that they were on good terms, and even told France Inter in an interview that the writer was not his friend, he resigned from his position as deputy mayor after news about Matzneff s sexual perversions have surfaced.

Although the French capital s former deputy mayor called Aniss Hmaid s accusation a slander, he withdrew from the city assembly pending the investigation, arguing that this would allow him to focus on the legal proceedings as well as his own defence. Weighing in on the case, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo welcomed the launch of the preliminary investigation on Twitter and expressed her support for victims of violence and sexual harassment.

The investigation was cut short by the prosecutor s office, which terminated proceedings in November, citing the statute of limitations. Delphine Meillet, Christophe Girard s attorney, welcomed the decision and described it as fair. In a press statement she said her client had gone through an extremely difficult period during the three months of the investigation, which was taxing both on professional and political terms, as well as on a human level, which put intense pressure on his family, the weekly Le Point writes.

After the legal ordeal which dragged on for three months, it appears that the politician is back to work. He already attended a meeting of Socialist MPs in Paris on Monday, 18 January, and, according to Le Monde, he will make a return to the Paris s City Council on 6 February after a nearly six-month absence.

Although, from a legal viewpoint, Christophe Girard s case has been closed, it is still considered a politically sensitive issue and his return to politics seems to be driving a wedge even among the ranks of the Socialists.

Green party MPs be have categorically rejected the idea of Girard s return to his post of city councillor. Alice Coffin said she was furious with Girard, whom she thought had infinite power and refused to take responsibility for his actions. She also added that she would continue to fight, Le Parisien writes.

Alice Coffin s dislike for Christophe Girard is nothing new. She first voiced her concerns in July, when Girard resigned as deputy mayor following the outbreak of Gabriel Matzneff s paedophile scandal. The controversy between the Socialists and the Green Party MPs culminated when Paris s outgoing deputy mayor was given a standing applause by his party colleagues, initiated by Paris Police Prefect Didier Lallement.

The environmentalists, however- spearheaded by Alice Coffin – articulated in no uncertain terms that they believe the 64-year-old politician should be ashamed. Presumably this is what Coffin meant when she said she would continue to fight.