MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 32-year-old French national was convicted in a French court for sexually assaulting two Minnesota boys during a field trip at a language immersion camp in Bemidji, Minn. in 2010.
According to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s office, Adrien Massy of Angers, France was sentenced to 12 years in prison for several sexual assaults, including two involving a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy while he worked as a teacher at the French Academy of Minnesota in St. Louis Park, Minn.
The assaults occurred between May 22 and May 27 of 2010 during a class trip to the Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji. The two victims were boys from Minneapolis suburbs.
The Beltrami County Sheriff’s office was contacted soon after the assaults, and they began working with the St. Louis Park and Edina Police Departments to investigate the Bemidji case and additional assaults in the metro area.
During the investigation, Massy was fired by the French Academy, lost his U.S. visa and fled to France.
United States Attorney John Docherty eventually called for Massy’s arrest and extradition to the U.S. to stand trial, but the French government denied the request, and instead decided to try Massy in France for his Minnesota crimes.
Honorary French Consul Alain Frecon says the decision to keep Massy in France was out of consideration for his victims, since French law allows for a defendant to be prosecuted without cross-examining them.
Testimony against Massy was provided by the parents of some of his victims, and he was tried in part with evidence provided by Beltrami County and Edina Police.
Frecon said during the trial, Massy confessed to other sexual assaults against children in France.
In addition to his 12-year prison sentence, Massy received 10 years of probation with sex-offender treatment upon release. If Massy fails to comply, he will get three extra years behind bars. He must also register with the French national registry of sex offenders and pedophiles.
Massy also received a life-time ban of contact with minors.
