Paris court convicts school aide for sex abuse, orders ankle tag

A Paris court on Tuesday sentenced a man to one year under house arrest with an ankle tag for sexually assaulting primary schoolchildren in his care.The sentence is the heaviest imposed since multiple allegations of sexual or physical violence emerged in recent months against monitors the city employs to look after children at school outside the classroom.Michael M., 38, admitted during his trial to having sexually assaulted the nine children aged five to 10 between September 2022 and January 2024, and apologised for “what had happened”.The court handed him a five-year term, four of which were suspended and banned him from working with children again.It ordered him to serve the one-year term under house arrest with an ankle tag rather than inside prison.The investigation had shown that he had taken part in conversations on the sexual abuse of children in an online forum, the presiding judge said.A Paris court in July found a 25-year-old guilty of sexually assaulting a kindergarten-age girl in his care, handing him an 18-month jail sentence and banning him from working with children. He denied any wrongdoing.