In October 2020, a complaint was filed by Dominique’s godso Boutonnat for facts dating from August 2020 during a vacation in Greece.
The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office recently requested the referral to the correctional court of the president of the National Cinema Center (CNC), Dominique Boutonnat, for sexual assault on his godson, AFP learned on Monday from sources familiar with the matter.

Telephone exchanges
In October 2020, a complaint was filed by the godson, now 23, for facts dating from August 2020 while vacationing in Greece. In this complaint consulted by AFP, the godson accuses his godfather, with whom he has no family ties, of having attempted to “masturbate” him on the night of August 3, 2020, after he bathed naked in the swimming pool.

“I masturbate him so that he stops touching me”, he denounces, assuring that his godfather then tries to impose oral sex on him. At the end of his police custody in February 2021, Dominique Boutonnat had been indicted for attempted rape and sexual assault.
During the investigations, the investigators were particularly interested in the telephone conversations between the two men, after that night of August 3, 2020, according to a source familiar with the matter. These exchanges revealed different versions of the scene. And the prosecution ultimately felt that these conversations further supported the version described by the young man than that of Dominique Boutonnat, according to the same source.

« Anxiety disorder »
For the fact of attempted rape, the prosecution requested a reclassification in sexual assault, according to the final indictment signed on March 31, according to a source familiar with the matter. The prosecution justifies the dismissal for sexual assault by the surprise that may have was felt by the young man, « because of his state of intoxication and the suddenness of the behavior » of Dominique Boutonnat, according to another source close to the file.

The prosecution dismissed the charge of attempted rape, because it considered that it could not establish that Dominique Boutonnat « had the intention to carry out sexual penetration », according to this source. It is now up to the investigating judge to decide on the possible holding of a trial. If it decides on a trial, it will also have to decide on the head charge retained, an attempted rape leading to the assizes.

“Absolute trust” between the accused and his godson

For his part, Emmanuel Marsigny affirms that the falsity of the accusations “obviously emerges from the contradictions of the civil party and the conversation” between the plaintiff and Dominique Boutonnat, and even more of an “audio seal not exploited” by justice. Dominique Boutonnat, 52, placed under control court since February 2021, was appointed Chairman of the CNC on July 24, 2019, after a long career in the financing of cinematographic and audiovisual creation.

Hearings of family members of the young man described a “very strong” relationship between Dominique Boutonnat and his godson, the boss of the CNC being presented “as the relay of the father when the victim had come out”, even a “second father” in whom the victim had “absolute confidence”.

Dominique Boutonnat explained to the investigators that he exchanged kisses with his godson as a sign of affection, but without connotation sexual. Solicited, the plaintiff’s lawyer could not be reached. A psychological report noted « an anxiety disorder » and « symptoms post-traumatic » at his client’s.