The hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning before the Beauvais criminal court (Oise). She was unable to take place, the defendant being absent from the proceedings. And for good reason. He had been in police custody for a little less than 24 hours in the premises of the Côtes-d’Armor gendarmerie. Aged 21, this man from Rennes is the main suspect involved in Morgane’s disappearance. Tuesday morning, the 13-year-old teenager from Pabu (Côtes-d’Armor) was found safe and sound in an apartment at the young workers’ home in Coutances (Manche).
A real relief for her family, who had not heard from her for two weeks, expecting the worst. The schoolgirl had simply run away, with the complicity of this man with whom she had been interacting on social networks for three months. Two days after his arrest in the jewelry store where he had worked for a month, the suspect was indicted for “kidnapping and sequestration of a minor under the age of fifteen” and could be taken to prison.
To justify his request for placement in pre-trial detention, the Rennes public prosecutor mentioned his wish to “prevent the risk of recurrence” of the suspect. “Although presumed innocent, his involvement in facts in a very similar mode of operation, last spring, may indeed cause concern regarding this risk of recurrence,” said Saint-Brieuc prosecutor Nicolas Heitz.
Morgane had made “suicidal remarks”
The man is suspected of having come to pick up Morgane in Pabu on the morning of November 25 and then of having taken her to his apartment in Coutances where she spent fifteen days locked up. Against his will? No, according to the accused, who assures that she could unlock the door from the inside which was locked. The girl explained that she could not go out.
According to initial findings, the teenager did not suffer any physical or sexual violence. The young man apparently came to the aid of this young girl whom he only knew through a Snapchat group called “golden group”. It was on this social network that the schoolgirl would have reported the harassment of which she was the victim, “by sharing suicidal remarks and photos of scarifications”, revealed the Saint-Brieuc prosecutor. It was the teenager who contacted him on Sunday November 24 to tell him to come get her.
A suspect also a victim of harassment
That day, Morgane had a heated argument with her parents about her excessive use of social networks. In anger, his father smashed his phone against a wall. The teenager had deleted all her accounts and decided to run away. “Dad, mom, sorry, I’m leaving,” the schoolgirl wrote.
Heard by the police, the accused has not yet had time to explain everything. Claiming to be a victim of harassment, he made several suicide attempts in the past and was hospitalized for psychiatric care. On social networks, he had created “a virtual social life” with “many false friends”, he told investigators. Before rushing to Morgane’s aid, he had already adopted a similar attitude with another teenager. On April 8, 2024, he showed up near a college in Oise to pick up a 14-year-old girl whom he had met on the Reality social network. The schoolgirl allegedly asked him to come get him “because she wasn’t feeling well”.
The 21-year-old young man was arrested in the company of the student. Prosecuted for “subtracting a minor”, he was to be tried on Wednesday before the Beauvais criminal court. Before this case, his only offense related to a speeding violation committed in 2022. He was not registered in the File of perpetrators of sexual offenses (Fijais). Although he panicked in the face of multiple missing notices, the young man never brought the teenager home. However, he considered himself “at fault” and recognized that he “should have said no” when Morgana asked him to come get her.
A return trip to Gironde in the middle of the night
It was finally by trying to take him to another acquaintance from the Snapchat group residing in Gironde that the suspect was spotted. A round trip made in a Citroën C1 in the middle of the night between December 8 and 9 would get him spotted. The mother of this 16-year-old teenager, spotting Morgane in the car, alerted the police, who were able to trace the host they were looking for. And put an end to the atrocious anguish of Morgane’s loved ones. The latter is “in good health”, according to investigators.
