Olympic champion and World Record holder Yannick Agnel has been indicted for rape and sexual assault of a minor.
Agnel was released from police custody on Saturday shortly before 8 P.M. to await trial.
Agnel was taken into custody on Thursday for questioning by police. On Friday morning, that custody was extended. This type of custody typically only lasts 48 hours, except in extreme cases, but Agnel’s lasted longer than that.
The Mulhouse prosecutor is planning a public press conference for Monday.
The arrest came after a preliminary investigation that was prompted by a complaint from a former teammate of Agnel’s at Mulhouse club, claiming that Agnel began sexual interactions with her when she was 13 years old and Agnel was 23. The alleged victim is no longer a minor.
Roxana Maracineanu, France’s Minister of Sport and the country’s first-ever World Champion in swimming when she won the world title in the 200 back in 1998, spoke on Saturday for the first time since Agnel’s arrest.
“I personally know the person who lodged the complaint, and you can imagine that this affects me,” Maracineanu said. “It is a process that must follow its course. The girl’s complaint is in the hands of the justice system and must proceed to the end. You know that this is a very important subject for me at the national level and is a fight that we are carrying out at the European level.”
Maracineanu has been a leader in an effort to combat abuse, rape and sexual assault of athletes in sport since taking a public role in a series of high profile cases including one in figure skating in 2020, and another related to soccer violence earlier this year. Earlier this year, Maracineanu created a platform for athletes to report adults who have abused them. She also led months of hearings after 400 French coaches, teachers, and other individuals were suspected of sexual abuse or helping to cover it up last year.
Agnel was a television commentator during the Tokyo Olympics on French TV. The French Swimming Federation, FFN, released a statement on Friday saying that they had no additional information of the case.
They also said that, because Agnel is no longer a licensed member of the federation, they have no jurisdiction to take up a disciplinary proceeding in the case and “therefore intends to leave the investigation to the courts.”
The 29-year-old Agnel announced his retirement after those 2016 Games.
Agnel won three medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, including a pair of golds in the men’s 200 freestyle and 400 free relay. He also anchored the French team to silver in the 800 free relay, and was a double gold medalist at the 2013 World Championships in the 200 free and 400 free relay.
Agnel is currently the world record holder in the men’s 400 freestyle in short course meters (3:32.25), and owns the fastest time ever recorded in a textile suit in the LCM 200 free from those 2012 Games (1:43.14).
Since retiring from the sport in 2016, Agnel has made some media appearances on French television and did coverage for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. He was also writing a column and participating in a podcast on the topic of E-Sports, but has been suspended from that role pending outcome of these proceedings.
It’s already been reported by NBC:
Two-time Olympic swimming champion Yannick Agnelhas admitted to having a relationship with an underage girl but denied coercion, the prosecutor in the Frenchman’s rape case said Monday.
Prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot said Agnel “recognizes the materiality of the alleged facts” but she said he did not have “the feeling that there was coercion.”
Roux-Morizot also said the events took place in 2016 in several locations, including Spain, Thailand and Brazil.
What’s his sentence?
Indictment is not the same as a guilty verdict. The trial and sentencing have not yet happened.
They want to be judge, jury and executioner. It’s one thing to say it doesn’t look good at all for Agnel but they have already brought out the guillotine
The maximum penalty is 20 yrs of jail
The prosecutor gave a news conference this morning and it is on Youtube.
Perhaps a respectful silence from all parties would be best — until more of the facts of the case are known. At this point, all is speculation and unfounded.
No, his reputation is permanently damaged, as it should be.
Being indicted without evidence is rare
you must not have heard of innocent until proven guilty
The prosecutor says that Agnel admitted to it.
Given that his custody was extended, and now he’s indicted, it’s most likely there is evidence that he’s guilty. I wonder whether there would be so many ‘innocent until proven’ comments if he’s Russian or Chinese.
There was a hammer, then a gavel and then a final decision to not acquit in China.
According to recent french news, the whole “did he or didn’t he” questions are pretty much over. Agnel seems to have admitted that things did happen, multiple times, but he didn’t feel like there was any form of constraint…
Certainly no “constraint” on his part.
You know what? This swimming club owed Agnel 60.000 euros back in 2016. Turns out the « victim »’s dad is the coach of this club.
And this coach says 5 years later that his daughter was rped when she was 14 in 2016, strange right? If my’daughter was rped, it wouldn’t wait that long to complain
Idk, but you’re implying a conspiracy in your first post and blaming the victim in the second, so you’re off to a good start.
Right, so we all know the world has changed quite a lot over the last couple years as a result of the incredible efforts of a range of women across the world to make abuse of women of all kinds more visible. It’s entirely possible that two facts exist at the same time, namely that the club owes Angel money, and that his daughter was the victim of a heinous crime. It’s also possible the club didn’t pay him the money BECAUSE of the crime – we just don’t know. So maybe we shouldn’t cast doubt on what has potentially been an incredibly traumatic experience in the life of a young woman just because of what you think you would… Read more »
I think you also make the assumption that her parents were aware of it – she could have been afraid of retaliation or no one believing her given Agnel’s standing in the swimming community or given she was so young at the time she may not have realizing what was going on until later in life. Let’s save the “investigation” and theories for the people who’s job it is to investigate.
W bro innocent
wait i read that wrong i thought he was acquitted bruhhh..
Bruh moment
Smh, Kanye would never
If being indicted of a crime in France carries the same weight it does in America, this is bad, very, very bad. This is the sickest, twisted crime a person can commit.
being indicted means being accused, with the crime not yet proven, whether you’re in France or the U.S. So it’s obviously upsetting but we can wait to see what the real allegation is, and what the evidence says.