French bishop attempts suicide after arrest in peadophile ring case

France's Gallican Church bishop is in a coma after jumping from a third-floor window at his mother’s home near Strasbourg on May 23, just days after his arrest in a nationwide paedophile ring investigation.

Authorities had taken the bishop into custody on May 21 as part of a nationwide operation targeting a group distributing child pornography and communicating through the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, Caliber.Az reports via French media.

At a Strasbourg court hearing later on May 23, the bishop’s lawyer, Michael Wacquez, appeared alone before judges and confirmed that his client was in a coma and in critical condition following the fall.

“I am not able to produce any medical evidence, but he is in a coma and his life is in danger,” Wacquez told the court.

He also condemned what he described as "aggressive behavior" by certain media outlets, claiming reporters had camped outside the bishop’s home and pressured him under the guise of reporting on the Gallican Church. 

Wacquez said that his client had admitted to the allegations and had been seeking to explain his actions and receive treatment.

Following his initial arrest, the bishop was referred to the judge of liberties and detention but was ultimately placed under judicial supervision rather than pre-trial detention. His judicial conditions include a strict prohibition on any contact with minors.

Prosecutor Agnès Robine confirmed the launch of an additional investigation to clarify the exact circumstances surrounding the bishop’s fall.

The case has been postponed until August 6, 2025.

As reported earlier, between May 19 and May 22, police arrested 55 men aged 25 to 75 across France in a child exploitation case. Law enforcement officials described the network as being in contact with “extremely dangerous” sex offenders, some of whom have been incarcerated since last summer.

“These 55 individuals all exchanged CSAM imagery [Child Sexual Abuse Material] with the dangerous pedophile, so we had digital evidence implicating all of them,” OFMIN operational unit head Quentin Bevan said. 

By Sabina Mammadli