Tunisia hunts French paedophile’s suspected accomplice

Tunis: Tunisian authorities are searching for a man they suspect helped a French paedophile rape and abuse at least 41 young boys, the justice minister said on Friday.

Thierry Darantiere, 52, was sentenced by a French court in June to 16 years in prison for raping or abusing at least 66 boys in Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Egypt over a decade.

Justice Minister Omar Mansour told Tunisian MPs that the authorities were hunting for a man in connection with Darantiere, a source familiar with the case said.

“His role has yet to be clarified, but he is suspected of being complicit,” Mansour reportedly said.

The government announced on Tuesday that it would open an enquiry following Darantiere’s sentencing at a court in Versailles, near Paris.

Forty-one of Darantiere’s Tunisian victims — aged between six and 17 — have been identified. Most of the abuse took place in the coastal towns of Hammamet and Sousse between 2000 and 2011.

Nine of Darantiere’s victims in Sri Lanka were identified thanks to cooperation between the French and Sri Lankan courts.

The former director of a Catholic retreat, Darantiere pleaded guilty to multiple counts of child abuse but could not specify a number of victims.

He was spotted by the FBI on the internet in 2011.

Investigators found hard disks at his house containing thousands of photographs and hundreds of videos linking him to minors in Tunisia, Egypt and Sri Lanka, where he had travelled many times for two humanitarian organisations.