Fury in France has erupted after the murder of an 11-year-old girl, Lyhanna, whose suspected killer, Jérome B., had a history of allegations involving young girls, according to BBC reports. Lyhanna disappeared after school a week ago in the Gers area of south-west France; a body, presumed to be hers, was found on farmland near the town of Fleurance on Thursday.

Criminal Record and Prior Allegations

Jérome B. ., a 41-year-old man, has been in custody since Monday, as he is the father of a friend of Lyhanna, and two witnesses reported seeing the girl in his car on the afternoon of her disappearance. The affair took a political turn when officials released details of Jérome B.’s police record.

He had been named in four separate cases involving young girls in recent years. Two were closed for lack of evidence, and in a third case, he was dismissed from his job as a maintenance worker at a secondary school for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards a teenager.

Unaddressed Complaints and Delays

According to the state prosecutor in the town of Auch, Jérome B. was the object of a complaint last August from the mother of 10-year-old Rosa, who claimed she had been raped by him on several occasions. Even though medical examination substantiated Rosa’s claims, Jérome B. was not questioned by investigators in the nine months since her family went to police.

The delays in the case were exacerbated by the need to transfer it from one jurisdiction to another. The French are appalled that none of the several alarm signals about Jérome B. were heeded by the authorities, who seemed more concerned about following procedure than preventing potential harm.

Political and Public Reactions

Jordan Bardella, the president of the hard-right National Rally, said on X, ‘The French people demand a reckoning, but this terrible tragedy could have been avoided if the justice system were not so dysfunctional.’

Bruno Retailleau of the conservative Les Républicains stated, ‘Our justice system is a failure, it should be totally reformed, and a society that is incapable of protecting its own children is a society which will one day start turning against itself.’

On the left, Marine Tondelier of the Ecologists said the affair was a ‘symbol of a politico-judicial system incapable of handling the issue of sexist and sexual violence.’

President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged ‘clear’ failings in the system. ‘It is unacceptable, but we cannot look Lyhanna’s family in the face and say this was properly handled.’

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he was ‘terrified’ by what had happened. ‘It is fair to ask why a man so obviously the object of suspicions was not kept away from youngsters… Why did no-one act, even though for months there had been complaints against him?’

The prime minister has demanded a report on what went wrong within 15 days.