need to know
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French Olympic swimming champion Yannick Agnel indicted for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting former coach’s teenage daughter
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The 33-year-old swimmer will stand trial after being arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in 2016
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Agnel won two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics
French Olympic swimming champion Yannick Agnel has been indicted for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting the 13-year-old daughter of her former coach.
According to the Associated Press and CompetitorThe 33-year-old swimmer, who won two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, was arrested on suspicion of raping the teenager in 2016, when she was 13.
According to French newspapers, Agnel’s lawyers appealed the decision in May 2025 that Agnel faced charges, but the French appeals court rejected the appeal and ordered the trial to continue Le Monde.
The prosecutor general’s office in Colmar, northeastern France, said on Thursday, January 15, that Agnel had been charged by a criminal court and ordered to stand trial because he was an adult at the time of the alleged conduct.
According to the Associated Press, Agnel has 10 days to appeal to France’s Supreme Court.
Pascal Gayot/AFP Photo: Getty
Yannick Agnel, 2014.
Prosecutors said the alleged incidents occurred between December 31, 2015 and August 31, 2016, in locations including France, Thailand and Spain.
Media reports said Agnell was first arrested for sex crimes in December 2021, when a complaint was made about an alleged incident in 2016. At the time, Agnell acknowledged the incidents but denied any coercion had occurred.
That year, France passed a law defining sex with a child under 15 (the age of consent in France) as rape. It is now punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
In July 2024, Agnel, who retired from active duty in 2016, attended a meeting with the victim, now in his early 20s, at his request. Le Monde.
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Agnell won gold medals in the 200m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics but failed to advance through that year’s preliminary rounds. He announced his retirement from the sport shortly after.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rain net.
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