French Olympic swimmer Yannick Agnel is facing trial for alleged rape and sexual assault involving the 13-year-old daughter of his former coach, as confirmed by the prosecutor general’s office in Colmar. The Colmar appeals court’s investigative chamber has mandated the 33-year-old to stand trial, given that he was of legal age at the time of the purported offenses. Agnel has a window of 10 days to contest this ruling at France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Agnel was taken into custody in December 2021, where he acknowledged a relationship with the underage girl but refuted any claims of coercion. The reported incidents trace back to 2016 when the girl was 13 and Agnel was 24, with alleged occurrences in various locations such as Mulhouse, Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics, Spain, and Thailand, as indicated by French judicial authorities.
Agnel, a double gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics in the 200m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay events, retired from professional swimming in 2016. In 2021, France enacted a law categorizing sexual engagement with individuals under 15 as rape, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, aligning the nation with several other Western countries.