Police in Essaouira arrested an 80-year-old French citizen on charges of sexually assaulting minors. According to media reports, the arrest followed a tip-off that the man was in a parked caravan with two girls, aged 10 and 11. Responding to the tip, authorities apprehended the suspect and presented him to the public prosecutor in Safi on August 2. The prosecutor ordered the man's immediate detention and charged him with «assaults and violence against minors». A subsequent investigation led to his placement in pretrial detention at Safi prison, pending trial later this month. The two young victims claimed they met the man in Essaouira last October and encountered him multiple times since. They alleged that he gave them gifts and sexually abused them on several occasions. While initially denying the accusations, the suspect later admitted to superficial sexual acts. At the prosecutor's direction, the two girls and two others they identified underwent forensic medical examinations.
